FROISSART 

AND  THE 

ENGLISH  CHRONICLE  PLAY 

UC-NRLF 


*B    312    2^0 


BY 


ROBERT  METCALF  SMITH 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements 

for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the 

Faculty  of  Philosophy,  Columbia  University 


Btto  park 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

1915 


Columfiia  ftnitoergitp 

STUDIES    IN  ENGLISH    AND  COMPARATIVE    LITERATURE 


FROISSART 

AND  THE 

ENGLISH  CHRONICLE  PLAY 


FROISSART 


AND  THE 


ENGLISH  CHRONICLE  PLAY 


BY 

ROBERT  METCALF  SMITH 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements 

for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the 

Faculty  of  Philosophy,  Columbia  University 


Jfteto  Porti 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

1915 


^ 


Copyright,  1915 
By  Columbia  University  Press 


Printed  from  type  November,  1915 


PRESS   OF 

THE    NEW   ERA    PRINTING    COMPANY 

LANCASTER.    PA. 


This  Monograph  has  been  approved  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  English  and  Comparative  Literature  in  Columbia 
University  as  a  contribution  to  knowledge  worthy  of 

publication. 

A.  H.  THORNDIKE, 

Executive  Officer 


327810 


To  My  Mother 


"The  Epic  may  wither  and  the  Tragedy  fail,  but  there 
is  seldom  want  of  the  good  bread  of  chronicles  .  .  .  and 
there  is  as  little  weariness  in  them  as  in  any  things  com- 
posed by  men." 

W.  P.  Ker. 


via 


PREFACE 

The  present  study  was  undertaken  in  order  to  disclose 
the  relationship  existing  between  the  Chronicles  of  John 
Froissart  and  historical  literature  in  England  up  to  the 
seventeenth  century  when  the  Tudor  Chronicle  plays  van- 
ished from  the  stage.  During  the  last  two  decades,  critical 
scholarship  has  discovered  many  intimate  relations  between 
French  and  English  lyric  and  romance  of  the  medieval 
period,  and  between  the  writings  of  the  Pleiade  and  the 
poetry  of  the  Elizabethan  age.  Investigation,  however,  of 
Froissart 's  connections  with  English  Literature  has  been 
almost  wholly  confined  to  his  poetry,  chiefly  with  reference 
to  that  of  his  friend,  Geoffrey  Chaucer.  Froissart 's  most 
noted  work,  the  Chronicles,  which  was  translated  into  Eng- 
lish by  Lord  Berners  as  early  as  1523-5,  has  been  generally 
overlooked  as  a  source  for  the  sixteenth  century  chroniclers, 
and  the  succeeding  dramatists  of  English  history.  Moreover, 
in  searching  for  sources  of  chronicle  history  plays,  critics 
have  confined  their  attention  too  exclusively  to  the  Chron- 
icles of  Holinshed,  largely  perhaps,  because  Shakespeare 
has  given  this  history  such  enviable  prestige.  But  other 
and  better  chronicles  of  this  period  also  found  eager  readers. 
Today,  when  any  question  arises  concerning  sources  for 
chronicle  plays,  the  easy  and  immediate  answer  is  Holins- 
hed. In  opposition,  then,  to  what  might  become  a  facile 
dogmatism,  the  following  pages  endeavor  to  reveal  to  what 
extent  those  chapters  in  Froissart 's  Chronicles  that  relate 
English  history,  particularly  the  reigns  of  Edward  III  and 
Richard  II,  influenced  the  chroniclers  and  playwrights  of 
the  Elizabethan  age. 


X  PREFACE 

To  facilitate  this  investigation,  the  first  two  chapters 
review  the  life  and  literary  work  of  Froissart,  and  of  his 
translator,  Lord  Berners.  In  writing  these  chapters  I  have 
availed  myself  freely  of  the  excellent  work  of  previous  in- 
vestigators, and  have,  therefore,  presented  little  that  is 
original.  The  remainder  of  the  first  part  discloses  the 
continuous  vogue  of  Berners'  Froissart  among  the  long 
succession  of  English  Chroniclers;  and  demonstrates  in 
nearly  every  case  their  literal  indebtedness  to  this  transla- 
tion. The  second  part  discusses  in  detail  the  numerous 
poetic  and  dramatic  versions  of  Edward  III  and  Kichard 
II  in  Elizabethen  literature,  and  attempts  to  prove  the 
indebtedness  of  the  authors  to  Berners'  translation.  Chap- 
ter IV  presents  the  new  and  complete  sources  from  Ber- 
ners for  the  anonymous  play  Edward  III,  wrongly  sup- 
posed to  be  derived  from  Holinshed,  and  reviews  in  this 
light  the  question  of  authorship.  Chapters  VI  and  VII 
offer  for  the  plays,  Jack  Straw  and  Woodstock  sources  that 
heretofore  have  been  either  incorrectly,  or  partially  traced. 
The  last  two  chapters  show  the  use  made  of  Berners  by 
Samuel  Daniel  while  writing  the  Civil  Wars,  and,  in  view 
of  this  relationship,  throw  new  light  on  the  indebtedness 
of  Shakespeare's  Richard  II  to  Daniel's  epic. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  acknowledge  my  gratitude  to 
all  who  have  aided  me  in  the  course  of  this  study.  Among 
those  deserving  special  mention  is  Professor  George  B. 
Churchill  of  Amherst  College,  to  whose  masterly  teaching 
I  am  personally  indebted,  and  whose  authoritative  mono- 
graph on  Kichard  III  has  given  me  very  material  assistance 
in  chapter  III.  From  the  members  of  the  Department  of 
English  and  Comparative  Literature  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity I  have  received  generous  assistance.  Professors  W. 
W.  Lawrence,  H.  M.  Ayres  and  G.  P.  Krapp  have  kindly 
read  and  criticized  the  manuscript  during  its  formation. 


PREFACE  .  XI 

Most  of  all  am  I  grateful  to  Professor  A.  H.  Thorndike, 
who  has  had  charge  of  the  thesis  from  its  inception,  and 
who  has  unfailingly  proffered  invaluable  criticism.  Through 
the  kindness  of  the  Journal  of  English  and  Germanic  Phi- 
lology, I  am  able  to  reprint  portions  of  my  chapter  on 
Edward  III,  which  appeared  in  January,  1911. 

R.  M.  S. 
March,  1915. 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface  ix 

Part  I 

Froissart  in  England  Before  the  Chronicle  Play 

I.     Froissart  and  His  Chronicles  3 

II.     Lord  Berners  and  His  Translation 14 

III.  Froissart  and  the  English  Chronicles 38 

Part  II 
Froissart  and  the  English  Chronicle  Plays 

IV.  The  Story  of  King  Edward  III 61 

V.     The  Story  of  King  Richard  II 93 

VI.     The  Life  and  Death  of  Jack  Straw 101 

VII.     A  Tragedy  of  King  Richard  II  (Woodstock) . .  115 

VIII.     Daniel's  Civil  Wars 131 

IX.     Daniel's  Civil  Wars  and  Shakespeare's  Rich- 
ard II  143 

Bibliography  158 

Index    161 


PART   I 

FROISSART   IN  ENGLAND   BEFORE   THE 
CHRONICLE  PLAY 


CHRONOLOGICAL  OUTLINE  FOR  CHAPTER  I 

1327  Accession  of  Edward  the  Third. 
1337-8?  Birth  of  Jean  Froissart. 

1341  War  between  England  and  Scotland.    King  Edward  and  the 
Countess  of  Salisbury. 

1346  Battle  of  Crecy. 

1347  Capture  of  Calais. 
1356  Battle  of  Poitiers. 

1361  Froissart  in  England  at  Queen  Philippa's  court. 

1367  Froissart  with  the  Black  Prince  at  Bordeaux. 

1368  Froissart  with  Chaucer  in  the  wedding  suite  of  Lionel,  Duke 

of  Clarence. 
1370  Froissart  under  the  patronage  of  Robert  de  Namur. 
1372  Froissart  appointed  Cure  de  Lestinnes. 

1376  Death  of  the  Black  Prince. 

1377  Accession  of  Richard  II. 

1378  First  Book  of  Chronicles  extended  to  1377. 
1383  Froissart  under  patronage  of  Guy  de  Blois. 

Redaction  of  First  Book  of  Chronicles. 
1387  Second  Book  of  Chronicles   (1376-1386). 

1390  Third  Book  of  Chronicles  (1386-1389). 

1391  Froissart  leaves  Guy  de  Blois. 
1394  Froissart  visits  England. 

1399  Murder  of  Richard  II. 

1400  Fourth  Book  of  Chronicles  (1389-1400). 
1400-1410  Last  Redaction  of  First  Book  of  Chronicles. 
1410?  Death  of  Froissart. 


CHAPTER  I 
FROISSART  AND  HIS  CHRONICLES 

The  Chronicles  of  Froissart  have  never  wanted  the  rev- 
erence and  honor  generously  accorded  to  works  that  are 
not  for  an  age  but  for  all  time ;  and  many  English  writers 
have  acknowledged  the  inspiration  received  from  the  pen 
of  this  zealous  chronicler  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Thomas 
Gray  hailed  him  as  "the  Herodotus  of  a  barbarous  age," 
and  Scott,  who  frequently  adopted  the  style  of  the  old 
historian,  warmly  expressed  his  devotion  in  the  words  of 
Claverhouse  in  Old  Mortality,  saying  that  the  pleasure  of 
reading  Froissart  would  repay  for  six  months  imprison- 
ment. ' '  His  chapters  inspire  me  with  more  enthusiasm  than 
even  poetry  itself,  and  the  noble  canon,  with  what  true 
chivalrous  feeling,  he  confines  his  beautiful  expressions  of 
sorrow  to  the  death  of  the  gallant  and  high-bred  knight  of 
whom  it  was  a  pity  to  see  the  fall,  and  such  was  his  loyalty 
to  his  king,  pure  faith  to  his  religion,  hardihood  towards  his 
enemy,  and  fidelity  to  his  lady-love!  Ah,  benedicite!  how 
he  will  mourn  over  the  fall  of  such  a  pearl  of  knighthood, 
be  it  on  the  side  he  happen  to  favor  or  on  the  other !  But 
truly  for  sweeping  from  the  face  of  the  earth  some  few 
hundred  of  villain  churls,  who  are  born  but  to  plow  it,  the 
high  born  and  inquisitive  historian  has  marvellous  little 
sympathy. ' ' 

The  life  of  Froissart  has  been  so  well  written  by  Madame 
Darmsteter  following  the  monumental  researches  of  Kervyn 
de  Lettenhove  and  of  Simeon  Luce,  that  no  attempt  has 
been  made  in  the  present  review  to  add  anything  new ;  but 

3 


4  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

as  an  introduction  to  the  following  discussions,  it  has 
seemed  best  to  retrace  briefly  the  events  of  the  chronicler's 
life,  with  special  attention  to  his  relations  with  the  English 
court.  He  was  born  at  Valenciennes  in  Hainault,  but  the 
year  of  his  birth  is  still  uncertain.  Froissart,  our  only 
authority,  makes  several  allusions  to  his  age  in  his  poetry 
and  chronicles,  not  entirely  consistent  with  one  another. 
In  the  Joli  Buisson  de  Jeunesse,  he  says  he  was  thirty-five 
years  old  on  November  30,  1373;  accordingly  he  was  born 
in  1338.  But  this  date  is  contradicted  by  one  passage  in 
the  chronicles,  "Sachez  que  Tan  de  grace  1390,  j'avais 
cinquante-sept  ans" — a  statement  which  would  establish 
the  date  1333;  several  other  passages  however  lead  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  was  born  most  probably  in  the  winter 
of  1337. 

Valenciennes  was  then  a  prosperous  town  in  the  Belgian 
province  of  Hainault,  about  twenty  miles  from  the  present 
Franco-Belgian  border.  The  trade  of  Valenciennes  with 
London  had  developed  so  rapidly  that  in  1340  the  town 
must  have  seemed  a  "grand  ville"  to  the  surrounding 
villagers,  and  undoubtedly  attracted  large  numbers  of 
artisans  and  merchants  to  settle  there  and  share  its  pros- 
perity. Kervyn  de  Lettenhove  suggests  that  the  father 
of  Froissart  was  one  of  these.  But  of  his  family  and 
teachers  Froissart  says  not  a  word  in  all  his  immense  work. 
Some  scholars,  on  the  evidence  of  one  of  his  pastorals,  have 
attributed  to  his  father  the  first  name  Thomas,  and  the 
profession  of  armorial  painter.  On  the  other  hand,  one 
might  conclude  from  the  Joli  Buisson  de  Jeunesse  that  his 
father  was  a  merchant  of  woolens.  One  ingenious  biog- 
rapher says  that  the  boy  was  a  natural  child  brought  up 
by  a  disagreeable  tutor,  for  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  Frois- 
sart uttered  no  regrets  on  leaving  his  native  province. 

As  a  youngster  his  eager,  inquisitive  mind  gave  promise 


FROISSAET   AND   HIS   CHRONICLES  O 

of  his  wandering  and  varied  life.  His  poem  I'Espinette 
Amoureuse  mingles  a  delightfully  literal  account  of  the 
youthful  days  which  he  spent  in  Valenciennes,  hating  his 
Latin  and  loving  "les  belles  filles,"  with  the  traditional 
forms  of  allegorical  love-making  of  chivalric  France.  He 
tells  us  he  disliked  games  like  chess  that  made  him  sit  down 
and  think,  but  he  gives  us  a  list  of  fifty-two  that  he  did 
enjoy,  half  of  which  are  unknown  to  the  child  of  France 
today.  He  loved  to  chase  the  butterfly  and  to  fly  feathers 
against  the  wind.  From  the  time  he  was  twelve,  he  filled 
his  mind  with  hunting,  dancing,  feasts,  wine,  dress,  and 
women, — tastes  which  never  left  him.  We  are  not  sur- 
prised to  find,  therefore,  that  his  ennui  over  his  Latin  ex- 
ceeded even  that  over  chess,  especially  when  on  the  same 
bench  with  him  at  school  were  charming  little  girls  to 
whom  he  made  love  by  gifts  of  apples  and  pears,  and  who 
made  him  cry: 

"  Quand  done  viendra  le  temps  pour  moi 
Que  par  amours  pourrai  aimer?" 

This  susceptibility  led  him  into  a  love  affair  that  continued 
from  his  fourteenth  to  his  twentieth  year,  and  formed  the 
subject  matter  for  the  love  story  in  I'Espinette  Amour  ease, 
one  of  the  most  entertaining  poems  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. It  would  be  difficult  as  well  as  useless  to  try  to 
determine  how  much  of  what  he  narrates  is  fact,  and  how 
much  is  pure  imagination.  Certainly  life  at  Valenciennes 
filled  him  with  the  spirit  of  romance  and  chivalry.  In 
fashionable  allegory,  he  describes  with  charming  detail  this 
beautiful  young  lady  who  set  his  fifteen  year  old  heart 
aflame.  She  walked  one  day  at  a  garden  party  with  him 
at  her  side.  She  stooped  to  pluck  five  violets  and  gave 
him  three,  while  she  treasured  the  others.  Then  she  begged 
him  to  lend  her  a  romance.     After  many  fears  lest  he  be 


6  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

unable  to  fulfil  her  wish,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  old 
copy  of  Bailli  d' Amour  and  in  return  she  lent  him  the 
romance  of  Cleomades.  But  when  his  suit  seemed  progress- 
ing most  hopefully,  Froissart  suddenly  discovered  himself 
totally  out  of  favor  because  an  enemy  had  whispered  a 
calumny.  He  says  that  the  lady  seized  him  by  the  hair 
and  pulled  out  a  handful,  then  married  another,  whereupon 
overcome  with  grief  he  relieved  his  despair  in  a  new  ballade. 

We  may  only  imagine  how  Froissart,  the  amorous  young 
poet  and  gallant  of  Hainault,  sailed  to  England  in  1361  to 
present  to  Queen  Philippa  his  first  essay  in  history,  de- 
scribing the  latest  exploits  of  the  English.  Mme.  Darm- 
steter  suggests  that  Jean  le  Bel,  who  finished  his  chronicle 
in  the  very  year  that  Froissart  began  writing  history,  had 
recognized  in  the  young  poet  a  worthy  successor,  and  ac- 
cordingly financed  his  journey.  Of  this  rhyming  history 
Froissart  wrote:  "Howbeit  I  took  on  me,  as  soon  as  I 
came  from  school,  to  write  and  recite  the  said  book  and 
bare  the  same  compiled  into  England  and  presented  the 
volume  thereof  to  my  lady  Philippa  of  Hainault,  noble 
Queen  of  England,  who  right  amiably  received  it  to  my 
great  profit  and  advancement."  This  book  now  non-extant, 
but  probably  couched  in  the  ordinary  verse  of  romance, 
testified  to  Froissart 's  historical  interest  and  his  ability  to 
take  notes,  as  well  as  to  write  poetry.  At  first  he  did  not 
think  kindly  of  writing  in  prose,  since  no  gentleman  of  that 
day  considered  prose  fit  to  read.  But  after  he  had  decided 
to  carry  on  the  history  of  Jean  le  Bel,  he  abandoned  verse 
for  prose,  and  correcting  his  previous  efforts,  set  about 
honoring  the  great  deeds  of  heroes  in  earnest. 

For  the  next  eight  years  (1361-1369)  Froissart  lived  at 
the  court  of  Edward  III  as  poet  and  secretary  for  the 
Queen,  who  encouraged  him  to  compose  at  length  a  history 
of  the  wars  between  France  and  England.     As  a  guide  and 


FROISSART   AND   HIS   CHRONICLES  7 

basis  for  material  on  the  first  years  of  the  war  (1325-1356) 
he  adapted  the  chronicles  of  Jean  le  Bel,  which  he  completed 
and  verified.  Garrulous  old  cavaliers  and  heralds  who  had 
witnessed  the  accession  of  Edward  III,  the  first  campaign 
against  the  Scots,  and  the  declaration  of  war  against  France, 
furnished  more  stories  for  Froissart 's  eager  ears  and  pen. 
In  1365,  Queen  Philippa  sent  him  into  Brittany  and  Lom- 
bardy  to  learn  about  the  French-English  wars  in  these 
provinces,  and  also  into  Scotland  that  he  might  journey 
for  three  months  from  village  to  village  under  the  guidance 
of  Bruce,  King  of  the  Scots,  become  acquainted  with  those 
northern  knights  who  had  witnessed  the  early  conquests  of 
Edward  III,  and  see  the  castle  at  Berkeley  where  Edward 
II  suffered  his  horrible  death.  Quite  likely  Froissart  was 
already  at  the  redaction  of  his  first  efforts,  when  in  the 
middle  of  the  year  1366,  as  war  was  breaking  out  in  Castile, 
the  Queen  summoned  him  to  accompany  the  Black  Prince, 
to  France.  On  the  sixth  of  January,  1367,  he  writes:  "I 
was  in  the  cytie  of  Burdeaux,  and  sittyng  at  the  table 
whare  Kyng  Richarde  was  borne  the  which  was  on  a  tuis- 
day  about  X  of  the  clock."1  Toward  the  middle  of  Feb- 
ruary, the  Black  Prince  sent  him  back  to  England  with  a 
message  for  the  Queen. 

One  must  remember,  however,  that  it  was  in  the  office  of 
poet,  and  not  historian,  that  Froissart  became  famous  dur- 
ing the  eight  years  that  he  was  attached  to  Queen  Philippa, 
"le  servant,"  as  he  says,  "de  beaux  ditties  et  de  traites 
amoureux"  in  verse.  Doubtless  it  was  in  this  capacity  that 
early  in  the  following  year,  1368,  he  was  sent  to  Italy  in 
the  wedding  train  of  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence.  Here  he 
was  much  gratified  to  hear  one  of  his  virelais  sung  at  the 
court  of  Savoy  during  the  grand  fete  offered  to  the  Duke 
of  Clarence. 

iBerners'   Translation,  London,   1812. 


8  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

But  in  August,  1369,  Froissart  learned  of  the  death  of 
his  patroness,  Queen  Philippa,  and  realized  that  his  hopes 
were  ruined.  "Elle  me  fit  et  crea"  he  tells  us.  In  losing 
her,  he  lost  everything.  At  the  court  of  Edward  III  the 
great  reaction  against  Queen  Philippa  and  her  little  court 
of  Hainuyers,  drove  Froissart  to  seek  refuge  in  Hainault. 
But  his  old  friends  took  little  interest  in  him  and  failed  to 
foster  his  sensitive  genius.  After  a  year  of  grief  over  his 
loss,  his  consequent  neglect,  and  his  discomfort  from  the  in- 
consistencies between  his  temperament  and  the  situations 
in  which  he  was  placed,  Froissart  sought  the  relatives  of 
his  former  patroness,  and  attached  himself  in  1370,  first 
to  Duke  Wenceslas  and  then  to  Robert  of  Namur,  the  bril- 
liant nephew  of  Queen  Philippa,  and  a  fairly  constant  sup- 
porter of  the  English,  who  not  only  served  as  a  patron,  but 
furnished  Froissart  with  some  of  his  own  valuable  docu- 
ments. In  September,  1373,  Froissart  was  provided  with 
the  curacy  of  Lestinnes  in  Hainault,  where  he  remained 
ten  years,  devoting  most  of  his  time  to  his  chronicles  and 
incidentally  drinking  a  good  deal  of  Flemish  wine,  baptis- 
ing infants,  and  burying  the  dead.  In  1378,  he  concluded 
and  dedicated  to  Robert  of  Namur  the  first  compilation  of 
his  chronicles,  which  covers  the  years  1325-1377.  This 
first  version,  begun  under  the  favor  of  Queen  Philippa, 
and  continued  under  Robert  of  Namur,  naturally  displays 
the  glory  of  the  English  conquerors  and  shows  strong  Eng- 
lish sympathies.  Of  this  version  many  manuscripts  are 
still  extant,  some  of  them  illuminated  with  rare  elabora- 
tion. 

But  by  1383  Froissart  had  become  the  chaplain  of  a  new 
patron,  Gui  de  Blois,  whose  ancestors  had  fought  for  France 
at  Crecy.  Froissart,  newly  appointed  canon  of  Chimay, 
now  changed  his  opinion  rather  than  take  the  consequences 
of  trying  to  sail  his  feather  against  the  wind,  for  his  new 


FROISSART   AND   HIS   CHRONICLES  9 

patrons  and  friends  were  strong  sympathizers  with  the 
French.  He  therefore  finished  before  1383  a  redaction  of 
the  chronicles,  revised  to  harmonize  with  the  French  point 
of  view;  yet  in  this,  as  in  his  other  revisions,  he  never 
excelled  the  fire  and  strength,  the  brilliance  and  pictur- 
esqueness  of  the  original,  and  never  again  did  he  write  with 
such  devotion  to  the  English  cause.  In  comparison  with 
the  original  this  redaction  is  colorless  and  restrained,  full 
of  inserted  references  to  the  valiant  cavaliers  of  the  Blois 
family.  Doubtless  they  were  pleased,  but  others  regretted 
that  the  fire  and  movement  of  the  original  were  subdued  to 
suit  the  peaceful  atmosphere  of  the  French  presbyteries. 

As  critics  have  often  noted,  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
Froissart  was  acquainted  personally  with  Chaucer,  since 
both  looked  to  Queen  Philippa  for  patronage,  and  both 
served  in  the  train  of  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence.  It  is  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  there  are  several  similar  passages 
in  their  works,  and  that  there  is  a  nice  question  to  be  decided 
by  scholars  as  to  which  poet  was  the  borrower.  Professor 
Kittredge  in  his  discussion  of  the  date  of  the  Meliador, 
Froissart 's  "fluent  and  interminable  Arthurian  romance," 
offers  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  that  Froissart 's  early 
version  of  Paradys  d' Amours  must  have  been  written  sev- 
eral years  before  1369,  the  date  of  Chaucer's  Book  of  the 
Duchess,  and  that  Chaucer  is,  therefore,  the  imitator  of 
Froissart 's  Paradys  d' Amours.1  Recently,  Prof essor  Lowes, 
by  examining  "parallel  groupings  of  well  known  conven- 
tions which  occur  in  other  combinations  elsewhere  and  par- 
allel divergencies  in  the  case  of  the  two  poems  from  the 
established  conventions — in  this  instance  those  of  the  Court 
of  Love — which  underlie  both,"  concludes  convincingly 
that  the  "framework,  the  cadre  of  the  Paradys  is  in  strik- 
ing agreement  with  that  of  the  second  part  of  the  B-version 

lEnglische  Studien,  Vol.  XXVI,  p.  321,  1879. 


10  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

of  the  Prologue  of  the  Legend  of  Good  Women."  More- 
over, since  the  common  celebration  of  the  daisy  comes  in 
each  poem  to  a  focus  in  a  ballade,  and  these  ballades  show 
striking  similarities  in  function  and  in  treatment,  and 
since  Chaucer  knew  and  had  already  borrowed  from  the 
Paradys  d' Amour  as  long  before  as  1369,  Lowes  concludes 
that  Froissart 's  poetry,  as  well  as  that  of  Deschamps  and 
Machault,  was  familiar  to  Chaucer  and  consciously,  or  un- 
consciously influenced  him.2 

In  1386  Froissart  began  again  his  wanderings  in  Au- 
vergne  and  Flanders  searching  out  stories  for  his  chron- 
icles. In  Flanders,  Froissart's  sympathies  were  so  thor- 
oughly aroused  by  the  accounts  of  the  ruined  merchants 
and  mechanics  of  Ghent  that  he  devoted  many  pages  of  his 
Second  Book,  which  he  completed  in  1387,  to  the  Flemish 
troubles  alone. 

From  this  period  on,  Froissart  spent  his  days  visiting 
from  court  to  court,  gaining  new  data  and  verifying  the 
old.  The  following  passage  reveals  how  conscientious  he 
was  in  his  search  for  information : 

"  I  had,  thanks  to  God,  sense,  memory,  good  remembrance  of 
everything,  and  an  intellect  clear  and  keen  to  seize  upon  the  acts 
which  I  could  learn.  I  have  followed  and  frequented  the  company 
of  diverse  nobles  and  great  lords,  as  well  in  France,  England  and 
Scotland  as  in  diverse  countries,  and  have  knowledge  by  them  and 
always  to  my  power  justly  have  inquired  for  the  truth  of  the 
deeds  of  war  and  adventures  that  have  fallen — every  night,  as 
soon  as  we  were  at  our  lodgings,  I  wrote  ever  all  that  I  heard  in 
the  day,  the  better  thereby  to  have  the  remembrance.  .  .  ." 

At  Orthez  in  1388,  Gaston  Phebus,  Count  of  Fois,  received 
him  graciously  and  invited  him  to  read  Meliador  aloud 

2  The  Prologue  to  the  Legend  of  Good  Women  as  related  to  the 
French  Marguerite  poems  and  the  Filostrato.  Publications  of  the 
Modern  Language  Association,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  393. 


FROISSART  AND   HIS   CHRONICLES  11 

during  the  evening,  when  ''nobody  dared  to  say  a  word 
because  he  wished  me  to  be  heard,  such  delight  did  he  take 
in  listening.' '  So  reading,  relating  things  he  had  heard 
and  noting  the  reports  of  others,  he  went  through  Tou- 
louse and  Avignon  to  Valenciennes  where  he  composed  in 
1390  his  third  book,  The  Chronicle  of  Portugal,  and  began 
his  fourth.  But  finding  his  notes  incomplete  on  the  affairs 
of  Castile  and  Portugal,  he  hastened  away  to  Bruges,  a 
great  commercial  center  of  the  Portuguese.  There  learn- 
ing that  a  well  informed  Portuguese  knight  was  just  start- 
ing for  Prussia,  Froissart  at  once  followed,  and  for  six  days, 
note-book  in  hand  absorbed  the  desired  information.  Such 
was  his  zeal.  But  from  such  eagerness  we  must  not  con- 
clude that  Froissart  had  much  historic  sense.  His  interest 
was  obviously  romantic,  rather  than  scientific,  and  he  cared 
only  to  paint  a  vivid  picture  of  the  events  of  the  fourteenth 
century  with  portraits  of  people  as  they  appeared  to  him, 
no  more.  He  was  a  chronicler,  not  a  critic,  and  his  liveli- 
hood depended  on  his  patrons.  Moreover,  inasmuch  as  he 
was  a  Fleming,  not  an  Englishman,  or  a  Frenchman,  leni- 
ency may  be  urged  for  his  unstable  sympathies. 

In  1391,  Froissart  left  his  patron,  Gui  de  Blois,  and 
journeyed  to  Paris,  and  thence  three  years  later,  he  em- 
barked once  more  for  England.  His  forty-year  absence 
had  done  much  to  estrange  him  from  even  his  friends.  He 
found  the  country  in  upheaval,  and  King  Richard  II,  be- 
sieged on  all  sides  by  commons  and  nobles,  in  imminent 
danger  of  losing  the  crown.  Nevertheless  the  old  chron- 
icler gained  favor  with  the  king  by  presenting  a  copy  of 
his  traites  amour eux,  a  "fayre  boke  well  covered  with 
velvet,  garnysshed  with  clasps  of  silver  and  gylte.  Whanne 
the  Kynge  opened  it,  it  pleased  hym  well,  for  it  was  fayre 
enlumyned  and  written  and  covered  with  crymson  velvet 


12  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

with  ten  botons  of  sylver  and  gylte,  and  roses  of  golde  in 
the  myddes,  wyth  two  great  elapses  gylte  rychely  wrought. 
Than  the  Kyng  demanded  me  wherof  it  treated,  and  I 
shewed  hym  how  it  treated  of  maters  of  love;  wherof  the 
kyng  was  glad  and  loked  in  it  and  reed  yt  in  many  places, 
for  he  could  speke  and  rede  French  very  well.  ..."  During 
his  sojourn  in  England,  Froissart  gathered  the  material 
for  his  fourth  book  from  the  Dukes  of  York  and  Gloucester 
and  others  at  court.  Although  pleased  with  his  reception, 
Froissart  could  not  avoid  seeing  the  discontent  of  the 
people  and  hearing  their  murmurs  against  Richard's  mis- 
rule. Still  loyal  to  him,  however,  he  left  England  in  dejec- 
tion and,  returning  to  France,  began  to  complete  the  fourth 
and  last  book  of  the  Chronicles.  This  part  covers  the  years 
1389-1400,  and  gives  a  vivid  account  of  the  beginning  of 
the  Civil  Wars, — a  narrative  which,  as  will  be  seen,  made 
a  vivid  impression  upon  Elizabethan  writers.  On  learning 
with  horror  of  the  abdication  and  death  of  Richard  II, 
Froissart  abruptly  concluded  the  fourth  book  with  a  de- 
scription of  the  funeral  of  the  wretched  king. 

During  the  next  ten  years  illness,  perhaps,  forced  him  to 
abandon  his  pen,  but  when  temporary  strength  returned  he 
felt  obliged  to  revise  again  the  first  book  of  the  Chronicles. 
In  a  style  quite  different  from  the  original  version,  he 
rewrote  that  part  of  his  history  which  he  had  first  written 
under  the  influence  of  Jean  le  Bel's  Chronicles.  This  last 
redaction,  extant  in  one  manuscript  in  Rome,  concludes  at 
1350,  and  is  enlivened  not  only  by  disgressions  and  remi- 
niscences, but  by  a  savage  attack  upon  the  English  people, 
and  an  elegy  on  the  unhappy  monarch  who  had  honored 
him  a  few  years  before.  Finally,  as  if  in  remembrance 
of  old  days  and  happier  times,  he  paid  glowing  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  his  former  patroness,  Queen  Philippa. 


FROISSART   AND   HIS   CHRONICLES  13 

The  rest  is  but  tradition  which  reads  that  Froissart  died 
at  Chimay  in  the  year  1410,  desperately  poor  and  lonely. 
No  friend,  as  far  as  we  can  learn,  ever  carved  his  name  on 
a  gravestone,  or  left  a  word  of  regret  for  the  death  of  the 
greatest  chronicler  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


CHAPTER  II 
LOED  BEENEES  AND  HIS  TEANSLATION 

1 

The  reputation  of  John  Bourchier,  second  Lord  Berners, 
according  to  Fuller's  Worthies  of  Hertfordshire,  was  that 
of  a  "marshall  man,  well  seen  in  all  military  discipline " ; 
and  the  Letters  and  State  Papers  of  King  Henry  VIII  bear 
witness  to  his  active  life  both  as  warrior  and  statesman.1 
By  posterity,  however,  Berners  is  remembered  chiefly  as 
the  translator  of  French  history  and  romance.  Born  in 
Tharfield,  Hertfordshire,  in  1467,  or  1469,  he  came  from  a 
long  line  of  noble  ancestors.  His  great  grandfather  joined 
the  royal  family  by  marrying  Anne,  daughter  of  Thomas 
of  Woodstock,  the  sixth  son  of  Edward  III.  John  Bour- 
chier, grandfather  of  Lord  Berners,  attended  Parliament 
with  the  baronage  in  1455,  and  fought  in  the  battle  of  St. 
Albans  for  the  house  of  Lancaster  under  Henry  VI.  Later, 
joining  the  house  of  York,  he  was  appointed  Constable  of 
Windsor  Castle  by  Edward  IV.  His  eldest  son,  Humphrey 
Bourchier,  married  Elizabeth  Tylney,  who  bore  him  three 
children,  John  Bourchier,  the  subject  of  the  present  sketch, 
and  two  daughters,  Margaret  and  Anne.  In  1471,  the 
father  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Barnet  while  fighting  for 
Edward  IV.  A  few  years  later  Lady  Berners  married 
Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  it  sems  probable 
that  young  John  Bourchier  received  his  early  training  under 
the  guardianship  of  his  step-father.  On  the  death  of  his 
grandfather  the  lad  succeeded  to  the  title  of  Baron  Berners 
i  Brewer 's  Letters  and  Papers  I- VIII. 

14 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  15 

(Barners,  or  Barnes,  as  variously  spelled).  According  to 
Antony  a  Wood,  he  entered  Balliol  College,  Oxford,  and 
afterwards  traveled  on  the  continent  throughout  the  tur- 
bulent reign  of  Richard  III.  During  his  sojourn  abroad, 
the  Bourchier  family  became  alienated  from  the  house  of 
York,  and  gave  their  assistance  to  Henry  of  Richmond. 
At  the  accession  of  Richmond  as  Henry  VII,  Cardinal 
Bourchier,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  great  uncle  of 
Lord  Berners,  performed  the  coronation  ceremonies. 

In  1477  on  the  marriage  of  one  of  the  royal  princes, 
Berners  received  his  knighthood,  and  in  1492  engaging  "to 
serve  the  king  in  his  warres  beyond  see  on  hole  yeere 
with  two  speres ' '  he  participated  in  the  siege  of  Boulogne. 
He  was  first  summoned  to  Parliament  by  the  title  "John 
Bourgchier,  lord  of  Berners"  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Henry 
VII,  and  on  the  accession  of  Henry  VIII  he  immediately 
became  his  trustworthy  official,  acting  as  a  commissioner  of 
peace  for  Hertfordshire,  and  two  years  later  for  Surrey. 
From  time  to  time  from  1511  on,  Berners  borrowed  sums  of 
money  from  Henry  VIII,  and  owed  in  the  December  of 
that  year  a  debt  of  350  pounds,  which  later  caused  him 
great  embarrassment. 

In  1513  he  journeyed  to  Calais  in  the  centre  division  as 
captain  of  the  King's  guard  and  conducted  himself  with 
bravery  at  the  siege  of  Tourenne.  His  deed  of  special 
merit  seems  to  have  been  the  recovery  of  a  gun  that  had 
been  left  behind  on  the  road  by  negligence  and  had  nearly 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  French.  In  the  fall  of  the 
same  year  he  marshalled  the  army  in  Scotland,  where  he 
doubtless  fought  in  the  battle  of  Flodden  Field.  On  May 
18,  1514,  he  was  granted  the  reversion  of  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  on  the  death  or  surrender  of  Thomas  Lovell; 
and  toward  the  close  of  the  year  he  acted  as  Chamberlain 
to  the  English  Queen  of  France  at  the  marriage  of  the 
King's  sister,  Mary,  to  Louis  XII. 


16  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE    PLAY 

At  some  unrecorded  date  Lord  Berners  married  Cath- 
erine, daughter  of  John  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  the 
sister-in-law  of  his  mother.  By  her  he  had  two  daughters 
Mary  and  Jane.    He  also  had  several  natural  children. 

In  1516  the  office  of  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  reverted 
to  him,  and  adorned  in  his  robes  of  office  he  sat  for  Hans 
Holbein.  The  portrait  reveals  Lord  Berners  as  large  and 
thick-set  with  magnificent  chest  and  shoulders.  Mild  frank 
eyes  look  out  from  a  massive  head,  adorned  with  a  broad 
hat.  His  face  is  smooth  shaven,  but  his  long  straight  hair 
falls  to  the  short  neck  and  encircles  strong  mastiff  jaws. 
Below  his  large  hawk-like  nose,  his  full  lips  turn  impres- 
sively and  grimly  down.  Partly  concealed  in  his  right 
hand  is  a  lemon — a  fruit  then  greatly  valued  for  warding 
off  the  plague. 

With  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh  in  1518,  Berners  jour- 
neyed as  special  ambassador  to  Spain  to  promulgate  a 
treaty  between  Charles  and  Henry  VIII.  But  he  was  so 
severely  attacked  with  gout  that  the  Archbishop  was 
obliged  to  conduct  the  affairs  alone,  while  Berners  wrote 
letters  to  the  King  describing  bull-fights  and  other  enter- 
tainments at  the  Spanish  court.  Since  the  negotiations 
dragged  on  from  April  to  December,  he  also  sent  repeated 
requests  for  money  to  enable  him  to  live  in  accord  with  an 
ambassador's  rank  and  dignity.  In  July  he  wrote  to 
Wolsey :  ' '  God  send  hit  an  ende,  for  we  lye  here  with  most 
charge  and  expence,  horse  and  man,  and  in  most  scarcitie 
of  all  things  as  well  meate  as  drink  that  may  be  thought." 
Because  of  his  illness  he  desired  to  return  to  England  as 
far  as  possible  by  land,  but  the  funds  were  so  scanty  that 
he  was  finally  compelled  to  take  the  nearest  way,  and  in 
January,  1519,  he  left  the  Spanish  court' and  embarked  at 
St.  Sebastian.  A  year  later  with  his  wife  he  attended 
King  Henry  at  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  and  on  July 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  17 

2,  1520,  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  Privy  Council  for  a 
description  of  this  ceremony. 

But  the  most  active  days  of  Lord  Berne^'  public  life 
were  drawing  to  a  close ;  his  health  was  still  poor ;  his  debts 
were  unpaid;  and  he  desired  retirement  from  military 
service.  In  1520  a  vacancy  occurring  in  the  governorship 
of  Calais,  he  gladly  received  the  appointment  from  the 
King  with  100  pounds  yearly  for  his  own  use,  and  104 
pounds  as  "spy all  money" — an  income  which  afforded  him 
leisure  for  the  literary  work  which  he  desired  to  undertake. 

According  to  his  own  confession,  history,  whether  relat- 
ing fact  or  fiction,  had  always  been  Lord  Berners'  literary 
passion.  In  this  respect  he  virtually  bears  the  same  rela- 
tionship to  history  and  romance  as  his  more  distinguished 
predecessor,  William  Caxton,  and  he  is  perhaps  the  most 
important  contributor  after  Caxton  to  the  great  vogue  of 
histories  and  French  romances  which  continued  in  England 
through  the  late  fifteenth  and  early  sixteenth  centuries. 
How  extensive  was  the  passion  for  medieval  lore  in  con- 
trast with  classical  antiquity  is  well  illustrated  by  the  out- 
put from  Caxton 's  press.  Its  total  production  reaches, 
above  18,000  folio  pages  and  among  these  volumes  there  is} 
not  the  text  of  a  single  work  of  classical  antiquity.  More- 
over, the  few  translations  of  Greek  and  Latin  writers  are 
nearly  all  at  secondhand  from  French  versions. 

Caxton  has  often  been  blamed  for  not  issuing  the  Eng- 
lish Bible,  or  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics  for  the  use  and 
instruction  of  the  people,  but  such  criticism  fails  to  compre- 
hend the  tastes  of  the  reading  public  for  which  Caxton 
printed.  On  account  of  the  series  of  political  catastrophes 
and  civil  wars,  the  English  knew  very  little  of  the  refine- 
ments of  the  French  culture  which  Chaucer  had  portrayed. 
"In  most  of  their  persevering  studies"  says  W.  P.  Ker, 
"they  are  little  better  than  the  ambitious  gallants  in  Eliza- 

3 


18  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

bethan  comedy,  whose  education  has  been  neglected,  the 
Gullios,  who  learn  manners  by  the  book  of  compliments. 
Nothing  in  history  is  more  desperate  than  the  attempts  of 
English  writers  under  the  Plantagenets  to  master  the  secrets 
of  French  courtliness. ' '  Just  when  the  medieval  tradi- 
tion was  about  to  disappear  forever  Caxton  preserved  it  by 
issuing  that  monument  of  courtly  lore,  the  Morte  dy  Arthur, 
and  other  numerous  romances,  and  conduct  books,  which 
he  could  hardly  print  fast  enough  to  satisfy  the  requests  of 
the  gentle  folk.  Moreover,  as  Caxton  himself  tells  us  in 
Charles  the  Great,  he  was  obliged  to  earn  his  livelihood 
from  the  publications  of  his  press ;  they  would  have  yielded 
little  had  he  not  supplied  the  popular  demand.  The  wealthy 
and  learned  classes  were  made  up  almost  wholly  of  clergy 
and  nobility.  He  provided  psalters,  directories,  and  moral 
tales  like  the  Golden  Legend  for  the  former  and  for  the 
latter,  romances  of  chivalry  and  books  of  courtly  conduct. 
His  ardent  appeal  to  the  knighthood  of  England  in  the 
Order  of  Chivalry  is  another  noteworthy  indication  alike 
of  his  own  personal  enthusiasm  and  of  the  spirit  of  the  age. 
Not  to  comment  on  his  inestimable  service  to  English  litera- 
ture by  his  editions  of  Chaucer,  Lydgate  and  others,  his 
contribution  to  English  history  may  well  be  noted  in  con- 
nection with  that  of  Lord  Berners.  He  issued  the  only 
available  histories  in  English  prose,  the  Brute,  or  the 
Chronicles  of  England;  and  the  Polychronicon,  which  he 
continued  nearly  to  his  own  time. 

In  view  of  Caxton 's  intimate  acquaintance  with  medieval 
French  literature,  it  is  surprising  that  the  chronicles  of 
Froissart  had  to  await  translation  into  English  until  over 
thirty  years  after  Caxton 's  death.  It  is  unbelievable  that 
he  was  ignorant  of  a  history  that  related  with  such  bril- 
liancy the  illustrious  deeds  of  the  English  in  the  Hundred 
Years  War.     That  he  was  acquainted  with  it  seems  evi- 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  19 

dent  from  a  reference  in  his  Order  of  Chivalry  to  the 
Roman  au  Chroniques  (which  he  classes  with  the  romances 
of  Lancelot  and  Percival),  a  title  by  which  Froissart 's  his- 
tory was  first  commonly  known. 

This  title,  Roman  au  Chroniques,  moreover,  is  another 
indication  of  the  attitude  of  the  age  towards  history. 
Romance  in  those  days  was  not  necessarily  considered  fic- 
tion, and  it  received  admission  without  cavil  into  chronicle 
writing.  Morte  d' Arthur,  for  example,  or  Huon  of  Bor- 
deaux, was  as  authentic  history  to  its  readers  as  Froissart, 
even  though  Froissart 's  was  by  far  the  greatest  history  of 
the  time  conceived  and  written  in  this  romantic  vein. 
Full  as  it  is  of  anachronisms,  apocryphal  incidents  and 
imaginary  conversations,  it  nevertheless  reveals  the  actual 
men  and  manners  of  the  time,  and  recreates  the  spirit  of 
the  past  more  successfully  than  the  careful  details  of  any 
other  historian. 

This  extensive  vogue  of  romance  and  history  thus  nour- 
ished by  Caxton  and  Malory  was  fostered  by  their  suc- 
cessor, Lord  Berners,  shortly  after  he  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  Governor  of  Calais.  He  was  doubtless  drawn  to 
Froissart 's  work  largely  by  its  romantic  appeal,  for  like 
Caxton,  Berners  fervently  voices  the  same  admiration  and 
passion  for  chivalry,  and  hopes  his  translation  may  be  the 
means  of  inspiring  and  guiding  youth  to  the  performing 
of  "famous  actes  and  glorious  dedes."  Moreover,  he  was 
encouraged  in  this  enormous  undertaking  by  Henry  VIII, 
who  commanded  him  to  make  the  translation.  The  first 
volume  occupied  three  years,  and  he  sent  the  manuscript 
over  to  England  to  be  issued  by  Pynson  in  January,  1523. 
The  second  volume,  completed  two  years  and  a  half  later, 
was  issued  from  Pynson 's  press  in  August,  1525.  Thus 
what  Malory  and  Caxton  had  done  for  England  by  rescu- 


20  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

ing  some  of  the  famous  romances  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
Berners  did  for  history  by  translating  Froissart. 

But  his  enthusiasm  for  romantic  literature  was  not 
quenched,  for  he  immediately  set  to  work  translating  Huon 
of  Bordeaux.  This  he  undertook  at  the  request  of  the  Earl 
of  Huntington,  just  as  Caxton  several  years  before  had 
received  orders  for  similar  works  from  "dy verse  gentle- 
men' '  and  even  a  king  and  a  princess.  The  romance, 
issued  by  Caxton 's  successor,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  in  1534, 
was  widely  read  by  Elizabethan  writers  and  furnished  story 
for  Spenser,  Greene  and  Shakespeare. 

The  hystory  of  the  moost  noble  and  valyaunt  knyght 
Arthur  of  lytell  brytagne,  Berners'  next  translation,  was 
printed  without  date  after  his  death  by  Robert  Redborne. 
Even  the  translator  himself  shows  a  slight  scepticism  in  his 
preface  regarding  this  romance,  for  he  writes  that  the 
heroes  ' '  overcame  many  harde  and  straunge  adventures  the 
whiche  as  to  our  humayne  reason  sholde  seme  to  be  in- 
credible. Wherefore  after  that  I  had  begon  this  sayd 
processe,  I  had  determined  to  have  left  and  gyven  up  my 
laboure,  for  I  thoughte  it  sholde  have  ben  reputed  but  a 
folye  in  me  to  translate  be  seming  suche  a  fayned  mater, 
wherin  semeth  to  be  so  many  unpossybylytees. "  Calling 
to  mind,  however,  that  other  romances  portrayed  heroes 
performing  supernatural  deeds,  Berners  took  courage  with 
the  faith  that  the  author  "devysed  it  not  without  some 
maner  of  trouthe  or  vertuous  entent. ' ' 

The  last  translations  of  Lord  Berners  contributed  to 
another  literary  fashion  that  Caxton  had  catered  to — the 
courtly  conduct  book.  As  from  romantic  history  Berners 
had  passed  to  pure  romance,  so  from  romance  he  was  at- 
tracted by  the  new  Spanish  conduct  books  of  Guevara  and 
Diego  de  San  Pedro,  still  in  favor  among  the  nobility.     At 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  21 

the  request  of  Lady  Elizabeth  Carew,  he  translated  the 
Castle  of  Love,  and  Sir  Francis  Bryan,  his  nephew,  issued 
the  Golden  Book  of  Marcus  Aurelius.2 

Although  these  extensive  literary  pursuits  are  proof 
that  Berners  spent  large  amounts  of  time  at  his  desk  in  the 
deputy  general's  office,  there  are  abundant  evidences  that 
he  did  not  neglect  his  official  duties.  The  state  papers  of 
Henry  VIII  contain  numerous  letters  from  him  to  Cardinal 
Wolsey  and  other  officials  of  the  court  pertaining  always 
to  the  fortifications,  the  manoeuvres  of  the  French  armies, 
or  the  arrival  of  visitors  of  note  that  he  entertained. 
Among  his  visitors  in  1522  was  Charles  V  then  on  his  way 
to  England. 

The  last  years  of  Berners'  life  were  filled  with  increas- 
ing anxieties  over  his  health  and  finances.  From  the  time 
of  his  visit  to  Spain  in  1518,  he  seems  to  have  been  sus- 
ceptible to  severe  attacks  of  gout  which  sometimes  incapaci- 
tated him  for  several  months.  Moreover,  his  debts  to  Henry, 
still  unpaid,  had  increased  to  500  pounds.  To  add  further 
to  his  troubles,  he  became  involved  in  a  series  of  law  suits 
over  his  estates  and  property  in  Hertfordshire ;  and  Henry, 
at  all  times  no  lenient  creditor,  began  pressing  him  for  his 
dues.  Berners  vainly  endeavored  to  mollify  the  King  by 
frequent  gifts  of  hawks,  but  even  while  Berners  was  lying 
upon  his  death  bed,  Henry,  with  seemingly  greedy  haste, 
sent  over  special  agents  to  attach  his  personal  property. 
Nor  when  the  death  of  Berners  followed  on  March  16, 
1533,  did  Henry  pay  any  respect  to  his  memory.  He  im- 
mediately placed  Berners'  property  under  arrest  and  ap- 

2  Since  there  are  several  good  studies  of  Berners '  version  of  Gue- 
vara in  relation  to  the  development  of  English  Euphuism,  it  does 
not  seem  necessary  to  repeat  here  a  discussion  that  is  generally 
familiar.  Cf.  Bond;  Lyly,  Vol.  I;  Child,  John  Lyly  and  Euphuism; 
Lee  on  Lyly  in  D.N.B. 


22  PROISSART  AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

pointed  a  successor  to  his  office.  The  elaborate  inventory 
of  Berners'  possessions  in  the  record  office  witnesses  the 
grandeur  in  which  he  lived  at  Calais.  One  entry  of  espe- 
cial interest  in  the  inventory  of  his  property  reads :  ' '  Item 

xx 
in  the  stody  ttt-t  books  vz  oon  of  Latten  and  frenche," — 
mj 

but  unfortunately  no  details  regarding  this  library  are 
recorded. 

The  life  of  Lord  Berners  thus  reveals  years  of  distin- 
guished activity  in  several  spheres.  He  was  a  trusted 
ambassador  and  governor,  skilled  in  diplomacy  and  poli- 
tics; he  was  a  worthy  knight  in  various  exploits  of  war, 
whether  as  a  member  of  the  King's  bodyguard,  or  marshall 
of  the  army ;  and  always  that  for  which  he  holds  a  secure, 
if  minor  place  among  the  literary  worthies  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  namely,  an  ardent  lover  and  translator  of  romance 
and  history,  who  "rescued  as  much  as  he  could  of  the 
treasures  of  the  Middle  Ages  before  they  were  overwhelmed 
by  the  new  learning.' ' 

2 

The  Translation  op  Froissart 

It  was  at  the  command  of  the  same  ungrateful  King 
who  hovered  over  his  deputy's  death  bed  to  snatch  his 
property,  that  Berners  had  undertaken  several  years  be- 
fore the  translation  of  the  chronicles  of  Froissart.  In  cast- 
ing about  for  French  editions  of  the  chronicles  to  trans- 
late, Berners  was  confronted  with  a  wide  choice,  for  no  less 
than  five  editions  had  been  issued  between  the  death  of 
Froissart  in  1410  and  the  arrival  of  Lord  Berners  at  Calais 
in  1520.  Moreover,  it  was  assuredly  fitting,  if  not  impera- 
tive that  Berners  should  choose  those  redactions  and  ver- 
sions of  the  chronicles  that  Froissart  had  written  in  the 
early  years  before  he  became  thoroughly  hostile  to  every- 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  23 

thing  English.  The  first  printed  edition  of  Froissart  in 
the  original  was  published  at  Paris  for  Antoine  Verard  in 
1495,  and  the  second  for  Verard  in  1497.  Others  appear- 
ing at  intervals  of  several  years  bear  the  dates  1505,  1513, 
1518.  A  close  examination  and  comparison  of  the  five 
French  editions  with  Berners'  text  show  that  the  transla- 
tor employed  the  second  edition  of  Verard,  1497,  contain- 
ing Froissart 's  original  version  of  the  first  book  of  chron- 
icles, which  portrayed  the  battles  of  Crecy  and  Poitiers  with 
a  spirit  and  sympathy  thoroughly  English  and  gave  the 
English  people  the  first  worthy  narratives  of  their  illus- 
trious past. 

The  appearance  of  Lord  Berners'  translation  of  Frois- 
sart in  1523-5  marks  also  a  new  epoch  in  the  writing  of 
English  history.  None  of  the  crude  attempts  at  chronic- 
ling in  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  centuries  can  bear 
comparison  with  the  distinguished  history  of  Chaucer's 
contemporary.  The  numerous  Latin  chronicles  were  writ- 
ten for  the  most  part  by  monks  living  remotely  from  the 
bustle  of  the  world  who  never  had  come  in  contact  with  the 
blaze  of  chivalry,  or  gossiped  for  information  with  knights 
and  heralds.  Had  there  been  an  English  Froissart  in  the 
13th  and  14th  centuries,  the  chances  are  many  that  he 
would  have  written  in  Latin,  for  English  prose  had  not  yet 
come  to  its  own,  in  spite  of  the  brave,  though  crude  efforts, 
such  as  the  Brute,  and  Trevisa's  translation  of  Higden's 
Polychronicon.  Not  until  many  years  had  passed  could 
Berners  prove  that  it  was  possible  to  write  like  Froissart 
in  English.  And  a  genuine  English  Froissart  Berners 
provided,  with  the  spirit  and  style  of  the  original  admirably 
and  faithfully  preserved.  When  writing,  however,  on  his 
own  account,  Berners  fashioned  after  the  manner  of  the 
new  school,  an  ornate  style  of  his  own,  full  of  antitheses 
and  wearisome  repetitions;  but  when  he  translated  Frois- 


24  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

sart,  he  usually  followed  his  original  "so  well  that  if  his 
text  were  retranslated  faithfully,  the  very  style  of  Frois- 
sart  would  reappear.  "3  By  such  a  statement  Jusserand 
doubtless  does  not  imply  that  in  all  respects  Berners  pro- 
duced an  accurate,  or  literal  translation,  for  just  as  the 
French  publishers  of  the  printed  French  editions  had  felt 
free  in  many  instances  to  abbreviate  or  to  adapt  at  will  the 
numerous  manuscripts  at  their  disposal,  so  Berners  did  not 
hesitate  to  make  free  with  the  text  of  his  Verard  edition. 
He  was  fully  aware  of  his  deficiencies  in  French  and  he 
offered  a  timely  apology  for  his  mistranslations  (which  ex- 
tend occasionally  to  such  simple  words  as  the  days  of  the 
week),  "requyrynge  all  the  reders  and  herers  thereof  to 
take  this  my  rude  translation  in  gre."  Again  he  often 
made  mistakes  in  the  names  of  places  and  persons,  usually 
rendering  them  literally,  even  though  he  must  have  known 
that  some  of  them  were  wrong.  Sometimes,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  ventured  corrections  of  his  own  and  occasionally 
erred  in  his  changes.  Kecent  editors  have  consequently 
had  serious  difficulties  with  identification.  One  editor  fit- 
tingly speaks  of  Berners'  "Hell  of  Proper  names'' — an 
epithet  exceedingly  appropriate  to  those  who  have  labored 
over  the  egregious  misspellings  first  of  Froissart,  then  of 
the  scribes  and  printers,  then  of  Berners,  and  finally  of 
Pynson,  or  Middleton.  Only  on  occasion  does  the  English 
text  spell  a  proper  name  twice  alike,  and  this  practice  when 
extended  to  common  words  gives  the  printed  page  a  start- 
ling, as  well  as  quaint  appearance. 

The  prose  of  Lord  Berners'  translation  of  Froissart,  like 
that  of  Caxton  and  other  contemporaries,  exhibits  as  has 
been  noted  two  distinct  styles — the  simple  and  picturesque, 
when  he  faithfully  follows  the  lucid  style  of  Froissart ;  and 
the  highly  elaborate,  artificial  style,  when  he  attempts  any- 

3  Jusserand,  Lit.  Hist,  of  Eng.  People,  Vol.  I,  pp.  404  ff. 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  25 

thing  original  like  a  preface  or  a  dedication  that  must  be 
imposing  and  elegant.  Since  he  realizes  that  he  is  insuffi- 
cient in  "the  facondyous  arte  of  rethoryke,"  he  does  not 
presume  that  he  has  "reduced  it  into  fresshe  ornate  pol- 
ysshed  Englysshe."  At  this  time  when  English  prose  was 
making  its  troubled  way  among  the  purists  of  the  Ascham 
Wilson  school  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  innovators  of  the 
Guevara  school  on  the  other,  Berners  deserves  credit  for 
steering  a  sane  middle  course,  and  for  keeping  more  closely 
to  the  medieval  tradition  though  not  allowing  his  expression 
to  be  hampered  by  the  precise  and  formal  periods  of  the 
classical  models.  In  respect  to  syntax  and  sentence  struc- 
ture, Berners '  prose  resembles  that  of  the  fourteenth  rather 
than  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  neither  pure  nor  accurate, 
and  his  expressions  are  often  careless  and  involved.  "Ber- 
ners' sentences  are  sometimes  begun,  broken  off,  begun 
again,  and  after  all  never  ended;  verbs  are  left  without 
subjects  and  relatives  without  antecendents ;  grammatically 
the  style  is  often  hopeless.  .  .  ."*  Such  a  passage  will 
serve  well  to  illustrate  these  deficiencies: 

"  Ye  haue  harde  riht  well  here  before,  howe  the  Kyng  of  Nauer, 
who  hadde  to  his  wyfe  the  frenche  kynges  suster,  for  the  loue  of 
the  one  and  of  the  other,  it  was  sayd  and  purposed,  that  the 
herytage  of  the  chyldren  of  the  Kyng  of  Nauer,  the  whiche  was 
fallen  to  them  by  the  ryght  of  their  mother,  yt  the  french  kyng 
their  vncle,  by  the  succession  of  his  suster,  ought  to  haue  power 
thereof  in  the  name  of  the  chyldren,  seyng  the  chyldren  were  in 
his  kepynge,  wherby  all  the  lande  that  the  Kynge  of  Naver  held 
in  Normandy  shulde  be  in  ye  french  Kynges  hand,  as  long  as  his 
nephewes  were  within  age." 

But  it  is  manifestly  unfair  to  take  Lord  Berners '  style  at 
its  worst,  for  only  occasionally  does  his  power  of  clear  ex- 
pression lapse  into  confusion,  and  under  the  guidance  of 

4  G.  C.  Macaulay,  Chronicles  of  Froissart,  Introd.,  p.  xxi. 


26  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

Froissart's  original,  he  can  write  terse,  virile  and  graphic 
prose.  Excelled  perhaps  by  Malory  and  Caxton  for  direct- 
ness and  lucidity,  he  is  yet  more  virile  than  either,  and  it 
requires  only  a  few  comparisons  of  his  text  with  that  of 
Johnes,  his  nineteenth  century  successor,  to  observe  the 
difference  between  prose  with,  and  prose  without  style. 
For  example  Berners  translates: 

11  The  horses  whan  they  felt  ye  sharpe  arowes,  they  would  in 
no  wyse  go  forward,  but  drewe  backe,  and  flang  and  toke  on  so 
feersly,  that  many  of  them  fell  on  their  maisters." 

Johnes  renders  the  passage: 

"  The  horses  smarting  under  pain  of  the  wounds  made  by  their 
bearded  arrows,  would  not  advance,  but  turned  about,  and  by  their 
unruliness  threw  their  masters." 

The  superiority  of  Berners  is  again  clear  in  the  following : 

"  The  constable  defended  hymselef e  valyauntly  with  that  wepyn 
that  he  had;  howbeit,  his  defense  hadde  vayled  hym  but  lytell, 
and  the  great  grace  of  god  had  nat  ben ;  styll  he  sate  on  his  horse 
tyll  he  hed  a  full  stroke  on  ye  heed,  with  whiche  stroke  he  fell 
fro  his  horse  ryght  agaynst  a  baker's  dore,  who  was  up  and  busy 
to  bake  breed,  and  had  left  his  dore  halfe  open.  .  .  ." 

Johnes  translates : 

"  The  constable  parried  the  blows  tolerably  well  with  his  short 
cutlass;  but  his  defense  would  have  been  of  no  avail,  if  God's 
providence  had  not  protected  him.  He  kept  steady  on  horseback 
sometime,  until  he  was  villianously  struck  on  the  back  part  of  his 
head,  which  knocked  him  off  his  horse.  In  his  fall  he  hit  upon 
the  hatch  of  a  baker's  door,  who  was  already  up  to  attend  his 
business  and  to  bake  his  bread." 

We  more  especially  commend  Lord  Berners'  good  taste 
when  we  pass  from  the  simple  style  of  the  translation,  and 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  27 

read  the  ornate  style  in  which  he  wrote  the  dedication  and 
preface  of  the  chronicles.  Feeling  doubtless  the  demand 
of  the  time  for  cultivated  rhetoric  and  fine  writing,  he  de- 
sired to  enrich  his  expression  as  much  as  possible.  For 
this  reason,  he  is  classed  with  Caxton  among  the  innova- 
tors, since  he  practices  word  borrowing  extensively  and  its 
complementary  device,  amplification.  With  his  successors 
Lyly,  Nashe  and  the  others,  he  is  guilty  of  Wilson's  charge 
of  trying  to  catch  "an  ynkehorne  terme  by  the  taile." 
Whenever  he  adapts,  or  borrows  words  from  the  French, 
he  couples  them  with  as  many  equivalents  as  he  can  think 
of — a  device  which  soon  becomes  a  great  burden.  He 
does  not,  however,  carry  it  to  the  ridiculous  extent  of  Wil- 
liam Sommer  in  the  letter  that  Wilson  deprecates.5  Som- 
mer  writes: 

"  Ponderyng,  expending  and  reuoluting  with  myself,  your 
ingent  affabilitie  and  ingenious  capacity  for  mundaine  affaires: 
I  cannot  but  celebrate  &  extol  your  magnifical  dexteritie  aboue  all 
other." 

Berners  writes: 

"  Thus  whan  I  aduertysed  and  remembred  the  many-folde 
comodyties  of  hystorie,  howe  benefyciall  it  is  to  mortall  folke  and 
eke  howe  laudable  and  merytoryous  a  dede  it  is  to  write  hys- 
tories,  fixed  my  mynde  to  do  some  thyng  therein:  and  euer  wha 
this  ymaginacyon  came  to  me,  I  volued,  tourned,  and  redde  many 
volumes  and  bokes,  conteyning  famouse  histories.  .  .  ."6 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  cause  for  satisfaction  that 
Berners  did  not  yield  to  the  pressure  for  fine  writing  so 
far  as  to  render  the  translation  of  Froissart  in  the  ornate 
style.  The  entire  prologue,  however,  is  well  worth  quoting 
in  full,  not  only  because  of  its  philological  interest,  as  an 

s  The  Arte  of  Khetorique,  G.  H.  Mair,  Oxford,  1909,  p.  163. 
e  Preface  to  Vol.  I. 


28  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

example  of  Berners '  style  in  courtly  dress ;  but  also  for  the 
picture  it  discloses  of  Berners'  mind, — his  enthusiasm,  and 
his  reverent  spirit  for  the  great  heroes  that  have  gone,  and 
the  wondrous  deeds  they  have  performed;  his  lofty  devo- 
tion to  chivalric  ideals;  and  his  eagerness  that  the  noble 
youth  should  be  fostered  with  the  incalculable  virtues  of 
history : 

"  What  condygne  graces  and  thankes  ought  men  to  gyue  to  the 
writers  of  historyes,  who  with  their  great  labours  haue  done  so 
moche  profyte  to  the  humayne  lyfe;  they  shewe,  open,  manifest 
and  declare  to  the  reder,  by  example  of  olde  antyquite,  what  we 
shulde  enquere,  desyre,  and  folwe;  and  also,  what  we  shulde 
eschewe,  auoyde,  and  utterly  flye:  for  whan  we  (beynge  vnexpert 
of  chauces)  se,  beholde,  and  rede  the  auncyent  actes,  gestes,  and 
dedes,  howe  and  with  what  labours,  daugers,  and  paryls  they  were 
gested  and  done,  they  right  greatly  admonest,  ensigne  and  teche 
us  howe  we  may  lede  forthe  our  lyues:  and  farther,  he  that  hath 
the  perfyte  knowledge  of  others  ioye,  welthe,  and  highe  prosperite, 
and  also  trouble,  sorowe,  and  great  aduersyte,  hath  thexpert 
doctryne  of  all  parylles.  And  albeit,  that  mortall  folke  are  mar- 
veylously  separated  both  by  lande  and  water,  and  right  wonder- 
ously  sytuate,  yet  are  they  and  their  actes  (done  peradventure  by 
the  space  of  a  thousande  yere)  copact  togyder  by  thistographier, 
as  it  were,  the  dedes  of  one  selfe  cyte,  and  in  one  manes  lyfe: 
wherefore  I  say,  that  historie  may  well  be  called  a  diuyne  prouy- 
dence;  for  as  the  celestyall  bodyes  above  complecte  all  and  at 
every  tyme  the  vniuersall  worlde,  the  creatures  therin  coteyned, 
and  all  their  dedes,  sembably  so  do — the  history.  Is  it  nat  a 
right  noble  thynge  for  vs  by  the  fautes  and  errours  of  other,  to 
amede  and  erect  our  lyfe  into  better?  We  shulde  nat  seke  and 
acquyre  that  other  dyd;  but  what  thyng  was  most  best,  most 
laudable,  and  worthely  done,  we  shulde  putte  before  our  eyes  to 
folowe.  Be  nat  the  sage  counsayles  of  two  or  thre  olde  fathers 
in  a  cyte,  towne,  or  coutre,  whome  long  age  hath  made  wyse, 
dyscrete  and  prudent,  far  more  praysed,  lauded  and  derely  loued 
than  of  the  yonge  menne?     Howe  mache  more  than  ought  hys- 


LORD   BERNEBS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  29 

tories  to  be  comended,  praysed,  and  loued,  in  whom  is  encluded 
so  many  sage  counsayls,  great  reasons  and  hygh  wisedoms  of  so 
innumerable  persons,  of  sundry  nacyons,  and  of  euery  age,  and 
that  in  so  long  space  as  four  or  fyue  hundred  yere.  The  most 
profytable  thyng  in  this  worlde  for  the  instytution  of  the  humayne 
lyfe  is  hystorie.  Ones  the  contyuuall  redyng  therof  maketh 
yonge  men  equall  in  prudence  to  olde  men;  and  to  olde  fathers 
stryken  in  age  it  mynystreth  experyence  of  thynges.  More,  it 
yeldeth  priuate  persons  worthy  of  dignyte,  rule,  and  gouernaunce; 
it  compelleth  themperours,  hygh  rulers,  and  gouernours  to  do 
noble  dedes,  to  thende  they  may  optayne  immortall  glory;  it 
exciteth,  moueth,  and  stereth  the  strong  hardy  warriours,  for 
the  great  laude  that  they  haue  after  they  ben  deed,  promptly  to  go 
in  hande  with  great  and  harde  parels,  in  defence  of  their  countre; 
and  it  prohibyteth  reprouable  persons  to  do  mischeuous  dedes, 
for  feare  of  infamy  and  shame;  so  thus,  through  the  monumentes 
of  writynge  whiche  is  the  testymony  vnto  vertue,  many  men  haue 
ben  moued,  some  to  bylde  cytes  some  to  deuyse  and  establishe 
lawes  right  profitable,  necessarie,  and  behouefull  for  the  humayne 
lyfe:  some  other  to  fynde  newe  artes,  craftes,  and  sciences,  very 
requisyte  to  the  vse  of  makynde,  but  aboue  all  thynges,  wherby 
mans  welthe  ryseth,  speciall  laude  and  cause  ought  to  be  gyuen 
to  historie:  it  is  the  keper  of  suche  thinges  as  haue  been  vertu- 
ously  done  and  the  wytnesse  of  yuell  dedes:  and  by  the  benefite 
of  hystorie  all  noble,  highe,  and  vertuous  actes  be  immortall. 
What  moued  the  strong  and  ferse  Hercules  to  entrpryse  in  his 
lyfe  so  many  great  incoparable  labours  and  paryls?  Certaynly 
nought  els  but  yl  for  his  meryt  immortalyte  mought  be  gyuen  to 
hym  of  all  folke.  In  seblable  wyse  dyd  his  imytator,  noble  duke 
Thesus,  and  many  other  innumerable  worthy  prices  and  famouse 
men,  whose  vertues  ben  redemed  fro  oblyuion  and  shyne  by  his- 
torie. And  whereas  other  monuments  in  processe  of  tyme,  by 
varyable  chaunces,  are  confused  and  lost:  the  vertue  of  hystory 
dyfussed  and  spredde  throughe  the  vnyuersall  worlde,  hath  to  her 
custos  and  kepar,  it  (that  is  to  say,  tyme),  whiche  cosumeth  the 
other  writynges.  And  albeit  that  those  menne  are  right  worthy 
of  great  laude  and  prayse,  who  by  their  writynges  shewe  and  lede 


30  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE   PLAY 

vs  the  waye  to  vertue:  yet  neuerthelesse,  the  poems,  lawes,  and 
other  actes  that  they  foude  deuysed  and  writ,  ben  mixed  with  some 
domage:  and  so-tyme  for  the  trueth  they  ensigne  a  man  to  lye: 
but  onelye  historie,  truely  with  wordes,  representying  the  actes, 
gestes,  and  dedes  done  complecteth  all  profyte;  it  moveth,  stereth, 
and  compelleth  to  honestie ;  detesteth,  erketh,  and  abhorreth  vices : 
it  extolleth,  enhaunceth,  and  lyfteth  vp  suche  as  ben  noble  and 
vertuous;  depresseth,  poystereth,  and  thrusteth  downe  such  as  ben 
wicked,  yuell,  and  reprouable.  What  knowledge  shulde  we  haue 
of  auncyent  thynges  past,  and  historie  were  nat?  whiche  is  the 
testymony  thereof,  the  lyght  of  trouthe,  the  maystres  of  the  lyfe 
humayne,  the  presydent  remembrauce,  and  the  mesanger  of  an- 
tiquyte.  Why  moued  and  stered  Phaleryus,  the  Kynge  Phtholome, 
oft  and  dilygently  to  rede  bokes?  Forsothe  for  none  other  cause, 
but  that  those  thynges  are  founde  writen  in  bokes,  that  the  fredes 
dare  nat  shewe  to  the  price.  Moche  more  I  wolde  f  ayne  write  of 
the  incomparably  profyte  of  hystorie,  but  I  feare  me  that  I 
shulde  to  sore  tourment  the  reder  of  this  my  preface;  and  also  I 
doute  nat  but  that  the  great  vtilyte  therof  is  better  knowen  than 
I  coulde  declare ;  wherf ore  I  shall  breuely  come  to  a  poynt.  Thus, 
whan  I  aduertysed  and  remembred  the  many-folde  comodyties  of 
hystorie,  howe  benefyciall  it  is  to  mortall  folke  and  eke  howe 
laudable  and  merytoryous  a  dede  it  is  to  write  hystories,  fixed  my 
mynde  to  do  some  thyng  terin;  and  euer  wha  this  ymaginacyon 
came  to  me,  I  volued,  tourned,  and  redde  many  volumes  and 
bokes,  conteyning  famouse  histories,  and  amonge  all  other.  I 
redde  dilygently  the  four  volumes  or  bokes  of  Sir  Johan  Froyssart 
of  the  country  of  Heynaulte,  written  in  the  Frenche  tonge,  whiche 
I  iudged  comodyous,  necessarie,  and  profytable  to  be  hadde  in 
Englysshe,  siths  they  treat  of  the  fomous  actes  done  in  our 
parties;  that  is  to  say,  in  England,  Frauce,  Spaygne,  Portyngale, 
Scotlade,  Bretayne,  Flauders,  and  other  places  adioyning;  and 
especially  they  redounde  to  the  honoure  of  Englysshe-men.  What 
pleasure  shall  it  be  to  the  noble  getylmen  of  England  to  se, 
beholde,  and  rede  the  highe  enterprises,  famous  actes,  and  glorious 
dedes  done  and  atchyued  by  their  valyant  auceytours?  Forsothe 
and  God,  this  hath  moued  me  at  the  highe  comaundement  of  my 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  31 

moost  redouted  souerayne  lorde  Kynge  Henry  the  VIII  Kung  of 
Englande  and  of  Fraunce,  and  highe  defender  of  the  christen 
faythe,  &c,  under  his  gracyous  supportacyon  to  do  my  deuoyre 
to  translate  out  of  the  frenche  into  our  maternall  englysshe  tonge 
the  sayd  volumes  of  sir  Johan  Froyssart;  whiche  cronycle  begyn- 
neth  at  the  raygne  of  the  moost  noble  and  valynt  kynge  edwarde 
the  thyrde,  the  yere  of  our  lorde  a  thousande  thre  hundred  and 
sixtene  and  countynueth  to  the  begynning  of  the  reyne  of  King 
Henry  the  fourth,  the  yere  of  our  lorde  god  a  thousande  and 
foure  hundred:  the  space  bytwene  is  threscore  and  fourtene 
yeres;  requyrynge  all  the  reders  and  herers  therof  to  take  this 
my  rude  translacion  in  gre.  And  in  that  I  haue  nat  folowed  myne 
authour  worde  by  worde,  yet  I  trust  I  have  ensewed  the  true 
reporte  of  the  sentence  of  the  mater;  and  as  for  the  true  namyng 
of  all  maner  of  personages,  countries,  cyties,  townes,  or  feldes, 
whereas  I  coulde  nat  name  them  properly  nor  aptely  in  Englysshe, 
I  have  written  them  accordynge  as  I  founde  them  in  frenche;  and 
thoughe  I  have  nat  gyuen  every  lorde,  knyght,  or  squyer  his  true 
addycion,  yet  I  trust  I  haue  nat  swarued  fro  the  true  sentece  of 
the  mater.  And  there  as  I  haue  named  the  dystaunce  bytwene 
places  by  myles  and  leages,  they  must  be  vnderstande  accordyng 
to  the  custome  of  the  coutris  where  as  they  be  named,  for  in 
some  place  they  be  lengar  than  in  some  other;  in  Englande  a 
leage  or  myle  is  well  knowen ;  in  Fraiice  a  leage  is  two  myles,  and 
in  some  place  thre;  and  in  other  coutre  is  more  or  lesse;  euery 
nacion  hath  sondrie  customes.  And  if  any  faute  be  in  this  my 
rude  translacyon,  I  remyt  the  correctyon  thereof  to  the  that  dis- 
cretely shall  f ynde  any  reasonable  def aute ;  and  in  their  so  doynge. 
I  shall  pray  god  to  sende  the  blysse  of  heuen.     Amen." 

3 

Vogue  of  the  Translation 

In  spite  of  all  its  crudities,  however,  the  translation  of 
Froissart  remains  a  brave  and  noble  prose  monument.  Its 
vivid  pictures  of  a  brilliant  epoch  in  feudal  history  aided 
in  recreating  the  age  of  chivalry,  and  nourished  the  roman- 


32  FROISSABT   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

tic  and  knightly  sentiments  of  the  time.  Moreover  its  rela- 
tion to  immediate  history  is  significant.  Henry  VIII  was 
especially  eager  during  the  early  twenties  that  his  fol- 
lowers should  be  reconciled  to  the  heavy  taxes  that  the 
contemplated  war  with  France  would  entail.  In  spite  of 
his  large  and  ostentatious  professions  of  friendship  with 
Francis  I,  at  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  in  1520,  Henry 
was  entering  into  a  secret  coalition  with  Pope  Leo  X  and 
Charles  V  of  Spain  against  the  French  monarch.  In  No- 
vember 1521,  the  articles  of  agreement  were  completed  and 
Henry  began  an  aggressive  war  against  France  in  the  sum- 
mer of  the  following  year.  As  the  untold  luxuries  of  his 
court  had  already  drained  the  vast  treasures  which  his  pen- 
urious and  foreseeing  father  had  accumulated,  Henry 
was  obliged  to  levy  severe  and  unjust  taxes  to  finance  the 
hostilities  he  had  begun.  No  literary  work  could  have  been 
better  suited  to  arouse  the  ambitions  of  the  English  war- 
riors than  Berners'  brilliant  pages  recounting  the  glories 
of  England  under  Edward  III,  and  the  daring  engagements 
of  the  Black  Prince  at  Poitiers.  Would  not  true  English- 
men be  filled  with  shame  at  the  memory  of  those  provinces 
that  had  formerly  belonged  to  Normandy,  and  eagerly  con- 
tribute to  a  new  conquest  for  regaining  their  lawful  lands  ? 
That  Henry's  purpose  succeeded  is  shown  by  the  preface 
to  Berners'  second  volume:  ''and  herin  his  hyghnesse 
taketh  syngular  pleasure  to  beholde  howe  his  worthy  sub- 
jettes  seyng  in  hystorie  the  very  famous  dedes,  a  it  were 
ymages,  represent  their  valyaunt  auncettours,  contende  by 
vigorous  vertue  and  manhode  to  folowe,  yea  to  passe  them 
if  they  maye." 

Even  greater  was  the  stimulus  that  the  chronicle  gave  to 
the  reading  and  writing  of  history.  It  has  justly  been 
said  that  Lord  Berners'  translation  of  Froissart  was  the 
first  really  important  work  printed  in  the  English  Ian- 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  33 

guage  relating  to  modern  history.  Eclipsing  in  literary 
merit  all  other  previous  chronicles  it  brought  home  a  wealth 
of  information  respecting  the  relation  of  England  to  the 
continent  in  the  fourteenth  century,  the  wars  of  Edward 
III  in  Scotland  and  France,  and  the  troublous  vicissitudes 
of  the  reign  of  Eichard  II. 

At  least  two  editions  were  issued  from  Pynson's  press, 
both  bearing  the  same  date.  Between  1542  and  1547  Wil- 
liam Middleton  also  issued  an  edition  "in  Fletestrete  at 
the  syne  of  the  George,"  and  containing  the  words  affixed 
to  the  King's  title  "of  the  Church  of  England  and  also  of 
Irelande  in  earth  supreme  heede," — a  title  that  Henry 
assumed  in  1542.  Since  Middleton 's  activity  as  a  printer 
fell  between  the  years  1541  and  1547,  the  conjectural  date 
1533  of  G.  C.  Macaulay  is  too  early.  To  increase  the  con- 
fusion of  editions  some  copies  of  Middleton 's  edition  are 
extant,  containing  leaves  from  Pynson's  press,  a  fact  which 
would  indicate  that  perhaps  Middleton  bought  Pynson's 
old  stock  and  issued  another  edition. 

The  following  passage  from  the  preface  to  the  second 
volume  shows  that  the  translation  was  popular  in  England, 
for  Berners  says  "The  great  pleasure  that  my  noble 
countreymenne  of  Englande  take  in  redyng  the  worthy 
and  knightly  dedes  of  their  valyaunt  auncettours  encor- 
ageth  me.  ..." 

Moreover  the  translation  of  Froissart  seems,  according 
to  one  authority,  to  have  made  Berners'  name  famous,  for 
in  Bale's  edition  of  Leland's  New  Years  Gift  to  King 
Henry  VIII  describing  that  antiquarian's  Laboryouse 
Journey,7  printed  in  1549,  occurs  this  noteworthy  sentence : 
"What  els  hath  reduced  the  name  of  sir  Johan  Bourchier 
the  lord  Barners  to  a  fame  immortal,  but  hys  translacyon 
of   frossardes   Chronycle   from   Frenche   into   Englyshe." 

i  Edited  by  Copinger,   Manchester,   1895,  p.    102. 
4 


34  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

His  other  writings  also  are  elaborately  cataloged  under 
Johannes  Bourchier  in  Bale 's  Index  Britanniae  Scriptorum. 
Although  the  principal  references  to  Berners'  Froissart 
would  naturally  be  found  among  books  treating  of  historical 
matters,  it  would  seem  likely  in  view  of  its  close  relations 
with  romance  and  with  the  development  of  English  prose, 
to  have  merited  the  comment  of  the  flourishing  schools  of 
style  and  language  reformers  on  the  one  hand,  and  critics 
of  historical  writings  on  the  other.  Just  why  the  transla- 
tion received  slight  attention  from  both,  is  difficult  to  deter- 
mine. Neither  Ascham,  who  has  strictures  to  make  upon 
romance  in  his  condemnation  of  Malory,  as  well  as  upon 
foreign  influences  in  general,  nor  rhetoricians,  like  Wilson, 
who  inveigh  against  inkhorn  terms  and  oversea  language, 
have  aught  to  utter  concerning  the  writing  of  Lord  Berners. 
Even  more  surprising  is  the  omission  of  his  name  among 
the  numerous  lists  of  English  poets  and  historians,  which 
writers  of  criticism  included  in,  or  appended  to  their  dis- 
cussions, e.g.,  the  Scriptorum  Catologus  in  Jonson's  Timber. 
Peacham,  who  devotes  a  separate  chapter  to  history  in  his 
Compleat  Gentleman,  does  not  refer  to  the  translation. 
Bolton,  who  intended  his  Hypercritica  to  be  complete,  and 
who  had  very  definite  ideas  as  to  how  history  should  be 
written,  casting  blame  upon  Polydore  Vergil,  praising 
More,  Speed,  and  Bacon,  and  alluding  to  Stowe  and  Holins- 
hed,  passes  by  Berners '  Froissart  in  silence.  Bolton  apol- 
ogizes, however,  with  the  "hope  now  that  no  man  will  be 
so  captious  or  ungentle  as  to  make  it  a  matter  of  quarrel 
to  me,  if  I  have  left  out  any  other  for  Want  of  Memory 
or  Knowledge.  .  .  . ' '  It  seems  strange  that  a  history  cited 
so  often,  and  so  well  known  by  the  chroniclers  and  drama- 
tists should  have  lapsed  from  knowledge  or  memory.  More- 
over, the  same  is  true  of  Sidney's  Apology  for  Poetry  and 
Bacon's  Advancement  of  Learning,  both  of  which  discourse 


LORD   BERNERS   AND   HIS   TRANSLATION  35 

with  more  or  less  fullness  on  the  art  of  writing  history. 
Sometimes  even  in  contemporary  catalogs  of  books  where 
the  English  chronicles  stand  out  in  full  array,  Froissart's 
history  is  not  mentioned. 

Perhaps  the  reason  for  this  neglect  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  chronicles  were  invariably  referred  to  as  Froissart's 
and  not  as  Lord  Berners'.  This  is  true  of  all  the  instances 
where  the  history  is  quoted  by  the  English  chronicles.  On 
the  margins,  or  in  the  lists  of  authorities  at  beginning  or 
end,  the  name  Froissart  always  appears,  although  in  nearly 
every  instance,  as  will  be  proved  in  the  next  chapter,  the 
translation  and  not  the  original  was  employed.  Continual 
reference  to  Froissart's  chronicles  in  this  way  would  be 
likely  to  obscure  the  name  of  the  translator,  who  after  all 
was  merely  a  medium,  and  would  lead,  in  spite  of  its  Eng- 
lish rendering,  to  the  rightful  consideration  of  the  chron- 
icle as  the  work  of  a  foreigner,  and  a  Frenchman.  Hence 
it  might  easily  be  excluded  from  mention  among  English 
histories,  more  especially  since  it  was  virtually  a  detailed 
history  of  foreign  as  well  as  of  English  affairs.  Perhaps  it 
was  for  these  reasons  that  the  later  critics  of  historical 
writing  say  nothing  of  Berners'  Froissart.  Many  of  them, 
moreover,  wrote  when  the  market  was  glutted  with  histories 
by  English  writers,  and  when  the  purely  romantic  concep- 
tion of  history  was  waning;  and  their  search  was  for  a 
more  rational  and  philosophical  treatment  than  had  yet 
been  written.  Tested  by  such  standards  the  chronicles  of 
Froissart  naturally  left  much  to  be  desired. 

But  while  rhetoricians  and  critics  passed  by  Berners' 
Froissart  in  silence,  other  prose  writers,  not  only  the  group 
of  historians,  and  the  antiquarian  Leland,  but  also  fiction 
writers  like  Painter  and  Nashe,  made  reference  to  Berners' 
translation.    Painter  referred  to  it  in  his  Palace  of  Pleas- 


36  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

ure,8  and  Nashe  evidently  possessed  a  copy  in  his  library. 
In  Have  With  You  to  Saffron  Waldon9  there  are  probable 
references  to  Berners'  translation,  and  in  the  general  dis- 
course on  spirits  in  Terrors  of  the  Night  (1594)  Nashe 
writes:  "Froisard  saith,  the  Earl  of  Fois  had  a  familiar 
that  presented  it  self  e  vnto  him  in  the  likenes  of  two  rushes 
fighting  one  with  another." 

Four  years  later  in  the  Prayse  of  Bed  Herring,  Nashe 
refers  to  " father  Froysard's"  picturesque  account  of  the 
banishment  of  Bolingbroke : 

"0  he  is  attended  vpon  most  Babilonically,  and  Xerxes 
so  ouercloyd  not  the  Hellespont  with  his  foystes,  gallies, 
and  brigandines,  as  he  mantleth  the  narrow  seas  with  his 
retinue,  being  not  much  behinde  in  the  check-roule  of  his 
Ianissaries  and  contributories,  with  Eagle-soaring  Bulling- 
broke,  that  at  his  remouing  of  houshold  into  banishment 
(as  father  Froysard  threapes  vs  doune)  was  accompanied 
with  40,000  men,  women,  and  children  weeping,  from  Lon- 
don to  the  lands-end  at  Douer."9 

By  far  the  greatest  contribution  of  Lord  Berners'  trans- 
lation is  found  in  the  narratives  of  the  reigns  of  Edward 
III  and  Richard  II  which  the  long  series  of  English  chron- 
iclers from  Hall  to  Speed  adopt  in  varying  degree.  The 
following  chapter  shows  how  limited  was  knowledge  of 
Froissart's  history  in  England  before  the  translation  and 
how  Berners  practically  introduced  Froissart  to  compilers 
of  English  history  and  writers  of  Chronicle  drama. 

sCf.  subsequent  chapter  on  Edward  III,  p.  63-4. 
9  Works,  Mackerrow,  London,  I,  p.  350;  III,  p.  185,  187-8;  V,  p. 
126  ff. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  OUTLINE  FOR  CHAPTER  III 

1516  Fabian's  Chronicle. 

1523-25  Berners'  translation  of  Froissart. 

1534  Polydore  Vergil's  Historia  Anglica. 

1542  Middleton's  edition  of  Lord  Berners'  translation. 

1548  Hall's  Chronicle. 

1567-68  Painter's  Palace  of  Pleasure. 

1568  Grafton's  Chronicle,  2  vols. 

1578  Holinshed's  Chronicles. 

1580  Stow's  Annales. 


37 


CHAPTER  III 

FEOISSART  AND  THE  ENGLISH  CHRONICLES 

During  the  first  eighty  years  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
presses  poured  forth  upon  the  Elizabethan  public  a  flood 
of  rival  chronicles  exalting  England's  illustrious  past,  all 
of  them  differing  from  one  another,  but  all  purporting  to 
be  authentic  histories.  The  rivalry  between  chroniclers 
was  often  intense  and  bitter,  and  the  clamor  so  great  that 
rival  compilers  brought  out  new  editions  of  their  Sum- 
maries, Manuals,  Surveys,  or  Chronicles  at  intervals  on  an 
average  of  every  three  years.  Each  new  issue  gave  its 
writer  his  opportunity  to  sneer  at  the  work  of  his  rival 
and  to  reply  in  full  to  the  acrimonious  charges  of  plagia- 
rism, or  falsification  that  they  had  published  against  him  in 
the  prefaces  of  their  editions.  After  1580,  although  the 
chronicles  still  continued  in  demand,  they  had  given  birth 
to  the  brilliant  series  of  chronicle  plays  that  crowned  the 
stage  during  the  last  two  decades  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
reign. 

The  development  of  chronicle  writing  in  England,  as  has 
been  noted,  was  as  slow  as  the  development  of  English 
prose;  and  the  standards  throughout  the  period  remained 
about  the  same.  Almost  every  English  chronicle  is  a  com- 
pilation from  innumerable  chronicle  sources  and  narrates 
sometimes  baldly,  sometimes  literally  what  had  been  pre- 
viously recorded.  As  the  narrative  descends  to  contem- 
porary events  the  writer  usually  takes  a  new  interest  and 
handles  his  narrative  in  a  more  personal  and  graphic 
way.     But  rarely  does  he  attempt  anything  more  than  a 

38 


FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  39 

description  of  events  in  bald  chronicle  form ;  and  too  fre- 
quently he  shows  no  power  of  selection  or  perspective,  and 
no  historical  sense.  He  fills  the  work  with  long  descrip- 
tions of  royal  or  city  feasts,  entertainments,  processions; 
with  fabulous  tales,  scraps  of  poetry ;  or  with  matters  more 
important  to  his  mind  than  even  foreign  events,  such  as 
the  remarkably  cold  winter  of  1390,  or  the  delivery  of  a 
monstrous  child  by  a  woman  of  Kent. 

The  reason  for  such  crude  narrative  in  the  English 
chronicles  lies  partly  in  the  character  of  the  men  who  com- 
piled them.  Not  infrequently  they  were  tradesmen  of  little 
or  no  education,  who  as  their  wealth  increased  attained 
perhaps  the  rank  of  sheriff,  or  alderman.  Fabian  was  a 
member  of  the  Drapers  Company;  Grafton  was  a  grocer 
who  later  became  a  distinguished  printer.  Jonson  states 
that  John  Stow  ' '  had  monstrous  observations  in  his  Chron- 
icle and  was  of  his  craft  a  tailour."  From  such  men  as 
these  it  would  be  foolish  to  expect  erudition  or  philosophical 
treatment  of  history.  They  reflected  only  the  temper  of 
the  age  with  their  moralizings  on  the  Falls  of  Princes,  and 
their  beliefs  that  fiction  of  moral  intent  was  as  suitable  as 
historical  fact.  Like  their  betters,  the  nobility  and  clergy, 
they  exhibited  the  same  scorn  and  contempt  for  the  fickle- 
ness of  the  populace.  Moreover,  their  extraordinary  ambi- 
tions to  write  histories  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to 
their  own  times  tended  to  preclude  a  thoughtful  study  or 
understanding  of  motives,  of  character,  or  of  cause  and 
effect.  In  this  class  we  may  put  all  the  chronicles  from 
Fabian's  to  Holinshed's  and  Stow's.  Not  until  Bacon 
wrote  his  history  of  Henry  VII  in  the  next  century  did 
historical  writing  begin  to  receive  philosophical  treatment. 

The  critical  sense,  however,  grows  as  the  years  pass  by 
and  expressions  of  dissatisfaction  begin  to  appear  in  critical 
writings.     In  the  Apology  for  Poetry  (1595)  Sidney  voices 


40  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

his  scorn  of  such  a  chronicler;  "loden  with  old  Mouse- 
eaten  records,  authorising  himself e  (for  the  most  part) 
vpon  other  histories,  whose  greatest  authorities  are  built 
upon  the  notable  foundation  of  Heare-say,  hauing  much- 
adoe  to  accord  differing  Writers  and  to  pick  trueth  out  of 
partiality,  better  acquainted  with  a  thousande  yeeres  a  goe 
then  with  the  present  age,  and  yet  better  knowing  how  his 
owne  world  goeth  then  how  his  owne  wit  runneth,  curious 
for  antiquities  and  inquisitive  of  nouelties,  a  wonder  to 
young  folkes  and  a  tyrant  in  table  talke,  denieth,  in  a  great 
chafe,  that  any  man  for  teaching  of  vertue  and  vertuous 
actions  is  comparable  to  him.  I  am  Lux  vitae,  Temporum 
magistra,  Vita  memoria,  nuncia  vetustatis,  &c. ' ' 

So  later  Bolton,  in  Hypercritica  (1618),  refers  to  "the 
vast  vulgar  Tomes  procured  for  the  most  part  by  the  hus- 
bandry of  Printers  and  not  by  the  appointment  of  the 
Prince  or  Authority  of  the  Common-weal,  in  their  tumul- 
tary  and  centonical  "Writings  do  seem  to  resemble  some 
huge  disproportionable  Temple,  whose  Architect  was  not 
his  Arts  Master,  but  in  which  store  of  rich  Marble,  and 
many  most  goodly  Statues,  Columns,  Arks,  and  antique 
Peices,  recovered  from  out  of  innumerable  Ruins,  are  here 
and  there  in  greater  number  then  commendable  order 
erected,  with  no  Dispraise  to  their  Excellencz,  however, 
they  were  not  happy  in  the  Restorer. ' ' 

Bad  as  these  chronicles  were  from  later  points  of  view, 
they  nevertheless  brought  home  to  the  Elizabethans  in  an 
impressive  way  the  downfalls  and  deaths  of  their  royalty, 
and  the  viscissitudes  of  worldly  things.  In  this  connection 
the  reigns  of  Edward  III  and  Richard  II  held  special 
interest  for  them,  and  the  impression  of  both  reigns  con- 
veyed to  them  is  largely  that  pictured  by  Froissart  whose 
accounts  of  English  affairs  during  these  years  (1325-1400) 
are  particularly  full  and  elaborate. 


FROISSART    AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  41 


French  Versions  op  Froissart  in  England 
Before  the  Elizabethan  age,  however,  and  before  Berners 
had  rendered  Froissart  into  English,  the  influence  of  those 
French  versions  that  found  their  way  across  the  Channel 
had  made  itself  felt,  though  traces  of  it  are  few  in  number 
and  very  hard  to  find.  Perhaps  the  earliest  instance  is  the 
contemporary  poem,  Le  Prince  Noir,  written  about  1835, 
by  the  herald  of  Sir  John  Chandos,  a  knight  frequently 
described  by  Froissart  as  a  friend  of  the  Black  Prince. 
That  the  herald  was  no  ordinary  man  is  shown  by  the  reten- 
tion of  his  title  after  his  master's  death  and  the  important 
embassies  afterwards  entrusted  to  his  care.  It  was  part  of 
the  duty  of  heralds  to  keep  a  diary  of  events.  In  fact,  as  is 
well  known,  many  of  the  romances  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury were  written  by  heralds,  and  Froissart  states  in  his 
preface  that  he  collected  much  of  his  material  from  them. 
Curiously  enough  there  are  evidences  of  resemblance  be- 
tween Chandos'  Herald's  poem  and  Froissart 's  chronicle 
which  tend  to  show  that  the  poet  and  the  chronicler  were 
either  personally  acquainted,  or  were  familiar  with  each 
other's  work.  The  very  words  of  the  Herald's  interview 
with  the  Black  Prince  appear  in  Froissart. 

Le  Prince  Noir  is  a  poem  in  octasyllabics  of  over  4000 
lines  describing  the  life  and  famous  exploits  of  the  hero, 
portions  of  which  the  writer  doubtless  witnessed  himself. 
Since  the  Herald  and  Froissart  cover  the  same  events  in 
the  course  of  their  works,  it  is  natural  that  the  resemblances 
should  be  numerous.  It  seems  probable  that  they  met 
abroad,  but  the  question  nevertheless  remains  as  to  whether 
the  poet  was  indebted  to  Froissart 's  Chronicle  for  any  of 
his  material.  As  early  as  1361  Froissart  presented  a  book 
to  Queen  Philippa  during  his  visit  to  England.    Conjecture 


42  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

presumes  this  gift  to  have  been  his  early  poetical  version  of 
the  chronicles,  unfortunately  non-extant.  Inasmuch  as 
Froissart  tells  us  in  1395  that  he  had  not  been  in  England 
for  twenty-seven  years,  and  as  the  Herald's  poem  was 
written  perhaps  before  1385,  circumstances  seem  to  pre- 
clude that  the  poem  is  indebted  to  the  Chronicles;  although 
it  is  possible  that  some  of  the  manuscripts,  either  of  the  first 
volume  of  prose  Chronicles  of  1373,  or  of  the  two  redactions 
of  1378  and  1383,  had  seen  circulation  in  England  and  had 
come  to  the  Herald's  notice.  However  the  matter  is  con- 
sidered, there  can  be  no  question  that  the  Herald  was  an 
original  writer  and  no  mere  copyist;  moreover  the  numer- 
ous differences  in  matters  of  detail  between  his  poem  and 
Froissart 's  chronicle  seem  to  establish  their  independence 
of  each  other.1 

Traces  of  the  French  chronicle  in  England  during  the 
turbulent  fifteenth  century  are  naturally  wanting — the  Eng- 
lish people  showing  more  concern  for  making  history  than 
for  reading  or  writing  it.  Professor  Child  has  cited2  Frois- 
sart's  brilliant  account  of  Percy  and  Douglas  as  a  source 
for  the  famous  historical  ballad,  The  Battle  of  Otterburn, 
which  probably  falls  within  this  century.  But  evidences 
are  wanting  to  establish  any  very  close  relation  between  the 
chronicle  and  the  ballad  literature  of  the  period. 

The  chronicle  histories  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries  as  far  as  can  be  determined  make  no  allusion  to 
Froissart,  nor  employ  his  chronicle  for  the  reigns  of  Ed- 
ward III  and  Richard  II.  Thomas  Walsingham  had  no 
need  of  sources,  for  he  personally  witnessed  the  latter  part 
of  the  reign  of  Edward  III  and  the  whole  of  the  career  of 
Richard  II;  while  other  noteworthy  contemporaries,  Adam 
of  Usk  and  Henry  Knighton,  also  witnessed  the  events  they 

i  For  parallels  and  recent  discussion  see  Oxford  edition,  1910. 
Introd.  Ivi  ff. 

2  F.  J.  Child fB  Collection  of  English  Ballads,  III,  p.  289  ff. 


FROISSART    AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  43 

described.  The  Brute,  or  The  Chronicles  of  England,  as  it 
is  sometimes  called,  is  an  independent  English  work  com- 
piled largely  from  London  chronicles,  deriving  nothing 
from  Froissart.  The  same  is  true  of  Trevisa  and  Capgrave. 
Nor  in  the  private  letters  of  the  century  such  as  the  famous 
Paston  Letters,  in  which  books  are  often  listed  and  de- 
scribed, is  there  any  reference  to  the  French  chronicle. 
Only  in  Caxton's  reference  to  the  Roman  an  Chroniques 
in  the  last  decade  of  the  century  is  Froissart 's  work  men- 
tioned, and  not  until  the  second  decade  of  the  following 
century  is  it  consulted  as  a  source  for  fourteenth  century 
history.  Then  the  name  of  the  old  chronicler,  John  Froy- 
zarde,  appears  in  the  list  of  authorities  which  Robert 
Fabian  consulted  for  his  New  Chronicles  of  England  and 
France. 

Robert  Fabian 

Robert  Fabian,  a  cloth  merchant  and  member  of  the 
Drapers  Company,  and  afterwards  alderman  of  London, 
was  the  first  English  historian  to  offer  something  more 
elaborate  and  literary  than  the  dull  records  of  preceding 
writers,  though  he  made  little  pretense  of  originality.  His 
New  Chronicles  of  England  and  France  were  published 
three  years  after  his  death  in  1516.  Because  Fabian  had 
no  sense  of  historical  proportion,  he  filled  his  narrative 
with  trifling  details,  such  as  descriptions  of  feasts  and  bits 
of  patriotic  verse. 

As  sources  for  the  conflicts  between  France  and  England 
from  1325  to  1400,  Fabian  employed  two  French  histories, 
Les  Chroniques  de  France  (called  the  chronicle  of  St. 
Denis)  issued  at  Paris  in  1476;  and  the  Chronicles  of 
Froissart.  The  text  shows,  however,  that  Fabian  relied 
mainly  upon  the  St.  Denis  chronicle,  which  he  invariably 
termed  in  his  text  "the  frensh  chronicle."  Only  in  two 
places  did  he  quote  from  Froissart,  and  then  because  the 


44  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

St.  Denis  chronicle  ruffled  his  English  pride  by  discredit- 
ing the  English  troops  and  praising  the  French  in  two 
engagements.  With  these  short  extracts  from  Proissart, 
Fabian  remarks  in  correction  of  the  "the  frensh  chronicle" : 
"but  ho  we  it  was  as  sayeth  an  other  wryter  callyd  John 
Froysarde,"  and  again  "as  wytenessyth  John  Froysarde."3 
The  influence  of  Froissart  then  upon  Fabian  is  prac- 
tically nil.  In  spite  of  his  efforts  for  picturesqueness,  his 
work  still  contains  much  of  the  dull  and  crude  method 
of  chronicling,  and  though  fuller  in  detail,  is  still  pri- 
marily a  city  chronicle.  To  later  sixteenth  century  his- 
torians, it  proved  serviceable  in  conveying  material  from  the 
numerous  London  chronicles,  which  Fabian  extensively  em- 
ployed. In  form  and  style,  however,  it  leaves  much  to  be 
desired,  in  comparison  with  the  treatment  which  Berners 
gave  to  his  translation  of  Froissart  a  few  years  later. 

Polydore  Vergil 

Polydore  Vergil,  another  historian  who  consulted  the 
French  originals  of  Froissart,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  one  of  the  most  maligned  chroniclers  of  the  period. 
He  was  an  Italian  scholar  who  arrived  in  England  at  the 
court  of  Henry  VII  in  1502.  Since  he  had  already  written 
two  books  of  great  repute  on  the  continent,  Henry  com- 
manded him  to  compile  a  history  of  England.  The  first 
edition  of  Historia  Anglica,  written  in  Latin,  though  prac- 
tically completed  earlier,  did  not  appear  till  1534  at  Basel. 
A  second  edition  was  issued  in  1546  and  a  third  with  a  con- 
tinuation to  1538  in  1555. 

As  far  as  the  reign  of  Edward  IV,  Vergil's  history  is 
a  compilation.  The  only  English  authorities  that  he  seems 
to  have  consulted  are  the  Brute  and  Fabian,  and  for  the 

3  Chronicles,  Ellis,  1811,  pp.  457  ff;  463. 


FROISSART    AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  45 

relations  of  France  and  England,  the  histories  of  Froissart 
and  Monstrelet.  There  seems  to  be  no  evidence  that  he 
knew  Berners  personally.  In  historical  method,  he  was 
more  original  than  preceding  writers,  for  he  rarely  incor- 
porated existing  narratives  literally,  but  digested  and  re- 
wrote the  material  in  his  own  lucid  Latin  style.  Moreover, 
he  was  the  first  chronicler  to  exhibit  a  critical  sense  for 
history,  and  his  short  rejection  of  previous  English  tradi- 
tions made  him  anathema  to  his  English  rivals.  His  zeal 
and  industry  is  illustrated  in  the  following: 

"  I  first  began  to  spend  the  hours  of  my  night  and  day  in 
searching  the  papers  of  English  and  foreign  histories.  ...  I  spent 
six  whole  years  .  .  .  reading  those  annals  and  histories  during 
which  imitating  the  bees  which  laboriously  gather  their  honey 
from  every  flower,  I  collected  with  discretion  material  proper  for 
a  true  history." 

He  took  special  pride  in  the  fact  that  he  was  a  foreigner 
and  could  write  from  an  objective  point  of  view  without 
bias  or  partiality;  and  he  modestly  stated  that  though  he 
had  doubtless  made  errors,  he  hoped  that  at  least  out  of  the 
vast  mass  of  annals  "I  have  prepared  material  for  others 
who  after  me  may  wish  to  write  history  in  a  more  elegant 
way." 

That  Polydore  Vergil  did  not  have  access  to  Berners' 
translation  of  Froissart  appears  evident  after  considering 
the  dates  of  his  compositions.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother 
written  in  1517  and  published  in  the  1521  Basel  edition  of 
his  Be  Inventoribus,  he  states  that  he  has  already  spent 
twelve  years  on  the  Historia  Anglica,  and  that  it  is  nearing 
completion.  In  addition  we  know  that  in  1512-24,  he  was 
writing  the  reign  of  his  patron  Henry  VII.4  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  he  had  finished  his  work  on  Edward  III 

4G.  B.  Churchill.  Eichard  III  up  to  Shakespeare.  Berlin,  1900, 
pp.   127-8. 


46  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

and  Richard  II  long  before  1523-25,  the  date  of  Berners' 
Froissart. 

Polydore  Vergil's  daring  attack  upon  the  history  of 
Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  and  the  mythical  character  of  Bru- 
tus brought  down  upon  his  history  a  series  of  unjust  attacks 
by  contemporaries  and  successors.  Leland'  characterized 
him  as  ''an  untrustworthy  writer  who  mingled  truth  with 
fiction,"  and  Sir  Henry  Savile  called  him  "homo  Italus,  et 
in  rebus  nostris  hospes. ' '  Caius  accused  Vergil  of  burning 
the  manuscripts  of  ancient  historians  to  cover  his  own 
errors,  and  later  Gale  and  Wood  said  that  he  borrowed 
books  from  the  University  Library  in  Oxford  which  he  did 
not  return,  and  that  he  had  pillaged  libraries  and  sent  a 
whole  shipload  of  histories  and  records  to  Rome.5  In  spite 
of  this  abuse  Vergil's  history  is  distinguished  for  its  classic 
eloquence  and  clarity  and  for  its  invaluable  authority  in 
matters  pertaining  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 

The  Historia  Anglica  had  more  influence  upon  succeed- 
ing chronicles  than  upon  the  later  chronicle  plays  for  two 
reasons.  In  the  first  place  it  was  written  in  Latin,  a  lan- 
guage that  playwrights  avoided,  when  numerous  adequate 
English  sources  were  available;  and  in  the  second  place 
though  a  translation  of  the  1546  edition  exists  in  manu- 
script form,  the  edition  of  1534  was  incorporated  by 
Grafton  in  1543  and  employed  by  succeeding  English  his- 
torians. Hence  it  found  its  way  eventually  to  the  drama- 
tist, though  probably  through  an  English  medium. 

II 

Froissart 's  Chronicle  in  England  after  Berners' 
Translation,  1523-5 

Nine  years  after  Fabian's  history  appeared,  Lord  Berners 

«  Cf .  Preface,  Ellis,  Three  Books  of  Polydore  Vergil 's  English  His- 
tory.    Camden  Society,  Vol.  XXIX,  London. 


FROISSART    AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  47 

gave  to  the  English  reading  public  the  first  translation  of 
Froissart's  Chronicles.  The  extent  of  its  influence  and 
the  importance  of  its  publication  have  already  received 
comment,  but  a  more  detailed  account  of  its  immediate  use 
by  succeeding  historians  is  of  considerable  aid  in  determin- 
ing its  continuous  vogue. 

Edward  Hall 

Edward  Hall,  the  son  of  John  Hall  of  Shropshire,  was 
born  in  London  in  1498  or  1499,  and  received  his  education 
first  at  Eton  and  then  Cambridge.  Called  to  the  bar  at 
Gray's  Inn,  he  subsequently  entered  Parliament  as  a  serv- 
ant of  the  Crown.  He  died  in  1547,  the  year  of  Henry 
VIII 's  death.  Hall's  Chronicle,  entitled  the  Union  of  the 
Two  Noble  and  Illustrious  Families  of  Lancaster  and  York. 
was  first  published  by  Richard  Grafton  in  1548.  Some 
writers  state  that  the  work  was  printed  by  Berthelet  in 
1542,  but  no  such  copy  exists ;  and  the  evidence  for  such  an 
edition  rests  upon  the  statement  of  Bishop  Tanner  in  the 
Bibliotheca  Brittanica  (p.  372)  and  upon  a  copy  in  the 
Grenville  Library,  which  contains  leaves  differing  from  the 
known  perfect  editions  of  1548  and  1550.  Some  critics 
think  that  the  many  changes  made  in  a  single  edition  of 
many  important  works  of  this  period,  afford  no  reason  for 
disbelieving  that  the  edition  issued  by  Grafton  in  1548  was 
the  first.6  Whibly,  however,  states  that  the  first  edition  of 
1542  was  "so  effectively  burnt  by  the  orders  of  Queen 
Mary  that  it  exists  only  in  fragments."7 

Whatever  may  be  the  date  of  the  first  edition,  Hall's 
chronicle  is  not,  as  has  sometimes  been  supposed,  an  en- 
tirely original  work.     That  part  preceding  the  reign  of 

e  G.  B.  Churchill,  Palaestra,  X,  p.  173. 
*  Cambr.  Hist,  of  Eng.  Lit.,  Ill,  p.  35&. 


48  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Henry  VIII  is  so  thoroughly  different  in  style  and  treat- 
ment from  the  remainder  as  to  make  the  chronicle  two 
separate  works.  The  first  part,  compiled  from  numerous 
authorities,  relies  for  the  reign  of  Henry  VII  upon  Vergil, 
who  is  often  translated  literally.  Certain  evidences  that 
have  not  yet  been  gathered  together  and  published  make 
it  plausible  that  the  history  is  the  work  of  two  authors, 
though  Whibly  holds  the  conventional  opinion  that  with 
the  accession  of  Henry  VIII,  Hall  began  "a  fresh  and 
original  work." 

Although  the  chronicle  of  Hall  is  of  no  particular  im- 
portance for  this  study,  since  the  narrative  begins  virtually 
where  Froissart's  concludes,  namely  with  the  death  of 
Richard  II  and  the  coronation  of  Henry  IV,  its  attitude  of 
cheerful  scepticism  regarding  Froissart  is  noteworthy.  In 
the  dedication  is  brought  against  him  the  charges  of  falsi- 
fication and  fabrication.  Like  all  other  succeeding  chron- 
icles, this  one  refers  to  the  translation  as  Froissart's,  not 
mentioning  Berners;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  writer 
had  been  reading  Berners'  new  edition  of  1542  which 
Middleton  had  just  issued.  The  passage  in  the  dedication 
referring  to  Froissart,  reads: 

"  So  that  in  fine,  all  the  stories  of  the  knights  from  Kyng 
Willyam  the  firste,  to  Kyng  Edward  the  third,  bee  set  furthe  at 
length  by  diverse  authours  in  the  Latin  Tongue,  as  by  Matthewe 
of  Paris  sometyme  religious,  in  saincte  albons  and  other.  After 
whome  John  Frossart  wrote  the  lives  of  Kyng  Edward  the  third, 
and  King  Richard  the  seconde,  so  compendiously  and  so  largely, 
that  if  there  were  not  so  many  thynges  spoken  of  in  his  long 
workes,  I  might  believe  all  written  in  his  greate  volumes  to  bee  as 
trewe  as  the  Gospell.  But  I  have  redde  an  olde  Proverbe  which 
saithe,  that  in  many  woordes,  a  lye  or  twagne  sone  maie  scape. 
Sithe  the  ende  of  Frossarte  whiche  endeth  at  the  begynnyng  of 
Kyng  Henry  the  fourthe,  no  man  in  the  Englishe  tounge,  hath 


FROISSART    AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  49 

either  set  furth  their  honors  accordyng  to  their  desertes,  nor  yet 
declared  many  notable  actes,  worthy  of  memorie  dooen  in  the 
tyme  of  seven  Kynges,  whiche  after  Kyng  Richarde  suceeded. 
Except  Robert  Fabian  and  one  without  name,  which  wrote  the 
common  English  chronicle.  Men  worthy  to  be  praysed  for  ther 
diligence,  but  farre  shotyng  wade  from  the  truth  of  an  historic"8 

Hall's  chronicle  therefore  did  not  use  Froissart  for  the 
last  years  of  Richard  II  in  spite  of  Sidney  Lee's  state- 
ment to  the  contrary.  In  his  life  of  Berners,9  Lee  states 
that  Hall,  Fabian  and  Holinshed  were  indebted  to  Berners. 
This  opinion  holds  true,  however,  only  of  Holinshed,  for 
Fabian's  chronicle  appeared  nine  years  before  Berners' 
edition.  Moreover,  the  criticism  cited  above  is  the  only 
instance  of  distrust  of  Froissart 's  chronicle  throughout  the 
period ;  the  following  historians,  Grafton,  Holinshed,  Stow 
and  Speed,  did  not  hesitate  to  incorporate  extracts  from 
the  translation  of  Lord  Berners. 

Richard  Grafton 

Richard  Grafton  is  chiefly  known  as  the  printer  and 
compiler  of  famous  books  of  the  period.  He  was  instru- 
mental in  issuing  several  editions  of  Coverdale's  Bible;  in 
1539  he  printed  at  London  The  Great  Bible  and  ten  years 
later  the  first  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII  he  was  printer  to  Prince 
Edward  and  afterward  to  Edward  VI  and  to  Lady  Jane 
Grey.  On  the  accession  of  Mary,  Grafton  was  thrown  into 
prison,  but  after  his  release  became,  like  Hall,  a  member  of 
Parliament.  Grafton's  first  historical  publication  was  the 
first  edition  of  Hardyng's  metrical  chronicle  to  which  he 
made  an  extensive  prose  continuation,  and  issued  probably 
several  times  with  various  changes  in  1543.     This  contin- 

s  Hall's  Chronicle,  Ellis,  London,  1809,  vi. 
9  D.N.B. 


50  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

uation  is  merely  a  compilation  from  Polydore  Vergil  and 
More's  Kichard  III.  Five  years  later  lie  brought  out 
Hall's  Chronicle,  to  which  he  added  material  compiled,  as 
he  says,  from  " divers  and  many  pamphlets  and  papers" 
that  Hall  had  left. 

He  then  composed  and  published  an  Abridgement  of  the 
Chronicles  of  England  which  was  printed  in  1562  and  re- 
issued in  1563,  1564,  1570  and  1572. 

But  in  summarizing  British  history  Grafton  had  a  for- 
midable rival,  and  a  far  abler  chronicler,  namely  John 
Stow,  who  issued  in  1565  his  Summarie  of  English  Chron- 
icles. To  equal  his  rival,  Grafton  published  in  the  same 
year  an  abridgment  of  his  own  Abridgement,  entitled  A 
Manual  of  the  Chronicles  of  England,  in  which  he  accused 
Stow  of  plagiarizing  his  previous  edition  of  1562.  He 
further  added  to  the  heat  of  the  controversy  by  sneering 
"at  the  memories  of  superstitious  foundacions  and  fables, 
and  lyes  foolishly  Stowed  together. ' '  Stow  in  retort  spoke 
of  the  "thundering  noice  of  empty  tonnes  and  unfruitful 
graft es  of  Momus  offspring/'  and  in  a  new  edition  of  his 
Summarie  of  Chronicles,  1570,  he  accused  Grafton  of  falsi- 
fying both  Hardynge  and  Hall.  Grafton  immediately  an- 
swered in  vindication  of  himself,  and  thus  the  warfare 
continued  in  the  prefaces  of  successive  editions  of  their 
works,  until  finally  in  1573  Stow  closed  the  controversy  by 
repudiating  with  severity  all  of  Grafton's  historical  work. 

But  meanwhile  in  1568  Grafton  had  published  a  more 
ambitious  history  entitled  A  Chronicle  at  Large  and  Meere 
History  of  the  Affayres  of  Englande,  usually  known  as 
Grafton's  Chronicle.  A  second  edition  appeared  in  the 
following  year  with  a  eulogy  of  the  author  by  Thomas 
Norton.10  On  the  appearance  of  Grafton's  Chronicle,  Stow 
charged  his  rival  with  patching  up  the  work  from  Fabian 

loKeprinted  by  Ellis.     2  vols.,  London,  1809. 


FROISSART    AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  51 

and  Hall,  an  accusation  with  more  truth  than  fiction,  for 
Grafton  had  copied  literally  a  great  many  passages  from 
Hall  and  supplemented  them  with  Vergil  and  Fabian.  In 
this  connection,  however,  Grafton  is  for  us  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  the  chroniclers,  since  he  was  the  first  and  only 
one  to  extract  whole  pages  of  Berners'  Froissart  and  incor- 
porate them  literally  in  his  text.  He  seems  to  have  realized 
that  Froissart 's  accounts  of  Edward  III  and  Richard  II 
had  been  neglected,  and  that  truth  demanded  the  inclusion 
of  the  more  detailed  and  original  stories  of  Froissart. 
Among  these  the  principal  one  describing  the  Wat  Tyler 
Rebellion  of  1381,  he  introduced  as  follows : 

"And  because  ye  shall  understand  the  truth  thereof.  ...  I 
have  purposed  fully  to  set  foorth  at  length,  the  truth  and  whole 
discourse  therof  unto  you,  as  Froissart  doth  at  large  write  the 
same."11 

In  employing  Berners,  Grafton  occasionally  abridged  the 
narrative  and  supplemented  short  extracts  from  Fabian, 
but  in  general  left  the  narrative  intact.  How  closely  he 
follows  Berners,  and,  not  as  might  be  contended,  a  French 
original,  the  parallel  passages  below  from  both  chronicles 
testify : 

Grafton,  I,   p.   395.  Berners'  Froissart,  I,  p.  211.12 

"  Soone  after  by  the  com-  "  Anone  after,  by  the  com- 
mandment of  Pope  Innocent  mandement  of  Pope  Innocent 
the  sixt,  there  came  into  Eng-  the  sixt,  there  came  into  Eng- 
lande  the  Lorde  Taylleran  Car-  lande,  the  lorde  Taylleran, 
dinall  of  Piergort ;  and  the  Lord  Cardynall  of  Pyergot  and  the 
Nicholas,  Cardinall  of  Dargell.  lorde  Nycholas,  cardynall  of 
They  treated  for  a  peace  be-  Dargell  they  treated  for  a 
tweene    the    two    Kinges,    but  peace  bytweene  the  two  Kynges 

11  Chronicle,  2  vols.     London,  1809.     I,  p.  417. 

12  All  quotations  from  Berners '  Froissart  in  this  study  have  been 
taken  from  the  reprint  of  E.  V.  Utterson.     2  vols.     London,  1812. 


52 


FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 


nothing  came  to  effect.  But  yet 
at  the  last  a  truce  betweene  the 
two  Kinges  and  all  their  as- 
sistentes  was  concluded  for  to 
endure  unto  the  feast  of  Saint 
John  baptist,  1359,  that  is  to 
say  for  three  yeres.  And  out 
of  this  truce  was  expected  the 
Lorde  Philip  of  Nauerre  and 
his  alyes,  the  Countesse  of 
Mountford,  and  the  Duchie  of 
Britaine. 

Anone  after,  the  Frenche 
King  was  remoued  from  the 
Sauoy  unto  the  Castell  of 
Windsore,  and  all  his  house- 
holde,  and  went  on  huntyng 
and  hawking  there  at  his  plea- 
sure, and  the  Lorde  Phillip  his 
sonne  with  him  but  all  the 
other  prisoners  abode  stil  at 
London,  and  yet  went  to  see 
the  King  at  their  pleasure,  and 
were  receyued  onely  upon  their 
faythes." 


but  the  coude  bring  nothing  to 
effect,  but  at  last  by  good 
meanes  they  procured  a  truse 
betwene  the  two  Kynges  and 
all  their  assysters,  to  endure 
tyll  the  feest  of  Saynt  Johan 
the  Baptyst,  in  the  yere  of  our 
lorde  God  MCCCLIX  and  out 
of  this  truse  was  excepted  ye 
Lorde  Philyppe  of  Nauerr  and 
his  alyes,  the  Countesse  of 
Mountfort,  and  the  ducy  of 
Bretayne. 

Anone  after,  the  french 
Kyng  was  remoued  fro  the 
Sauoy  to  the  castell  of  Wynd- 
sore,  and  all  his  householde, 
and  went  a  huntyng  and  a 
haukyng  ther  about  at  his  plea- 
sur,  and  the  lorde  Philypp  his 
son  with  hym;  and  all  the  other 
prisoners  abode  styll  at  Lon- 
don, and  went  to  se  the  Kyng 
at  their  pleasure,  and  were  re- 
ceyued all  onely  on  their 
faythes." 


Ralph  Eolinshed 

Ralph  Holinshed,  whose  Chronicles  of  England,  Scotland 
and  Ireland  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  1578,  is  the  best 
known  chronicler  of  the  century  because  of  his  relation  to 
Shakespeare.  In  many  ways  one  of  the  most  industrious 
writers,  he  consulted  no  less  than  181  authorities  besides 
numerous  books  and  registers.  After  Holinshed 's  death  in 
1580,  John  Hooker  with  the  assistance  of  Francis  Thynne, 


FROISSART    AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  53 

Abraham  Fleming  and  John  Stow  brought  out  a  new  edi- 
tion that  furnished  Shakespeare  and  other  writers  with 
history  for  chronicle  plays. 

For  the  reigns  of  Edward  III  and  Richard  II,  Holins- 
hed  took  from  Berners'  translation  many  short  passages, 
which,  when  taken  as  a  whole,  show  that  he  relied  on  Frois- 
sart  more  than  upon  any  other  authority.13  His  other 
sources  in  order  of  importance  were  Walsingham,  Vergil, 
Fabian,  and  Caxton,  for  Edward  III ;  and  Knighton,  Wal- 
singham and  Fabian  for  Richard  II. 

Unlike  Grafton,  Holinshed  preferred  to  abbreviate  and 
adapt  Berners'  repetitious  narrative  to  suit  his  own  needs; 
but  a  sufficient  amount  of  Berners'  text  remains  to  assure 
us  that  Holinshed  did  not  consult  a  French  original,  as  the 
following  parallel  passages  will  serve  to  illustrate: 

Berners'  Froissart,  I,  p.  211  Holinshed,  III,  p.  39114 

"  Anone   after,  by  the   com-  "  About  the  same  time,  there 

mandment    of    Pope    Innocent  came    over   into    England   two 

the  sixt,  there  came  into  Eng-  cardinals,  the  one  called   Tali- 

lande,  the  lorde  Taylleran,  Car-  rand    being    bishop    of    Alba 

dynall  of  Pyergot  and  the  lorde  (commonlie    named    the    small 

Nycholas,  cardynall  of  Dargell  cardinall  of  Pierregot)  and  the 

they   treated   for   a  peace   by-  other  named  Nicholas  intituled 

tweene  the  two  Kynges  but  at  cardinall   of   S.   Vitale   or    (as 

last  by  good  meanes  they  pro-  Froissard    saith)     of    Dargell, 

cured  a  truse  bytwene  the  two  they  were  sent  from  pope  in- 

Kynges  and  all  their  assysters,  nocent  the  sixt  to  intreat  for 

to  endure  tyll  the  feest  of  Saynt  a   piece  betwixt   the   kings   of 

Johan  the  Baptyst,  in  the  yere  England  and  France;  but  they 

of   our   lorde   God   MCCCLIX  could  not  bring  their  purpose 

13  Holinshed  did  not  derive  his  Froissart  material  from  Grafton, 
because  he  consulted  Berners  for  events  that  Grafton  did  not  in- 
clude. For  example,  the  secret  journey  of  Edward  III  to  Calais  in 
1349  .  .  .   (Hoi.,  Ill,  pp.  378  ff.)   not  in  Grafton   (I,  p.  386). 

14  Holinshed 's  Chronicles.     London,  1587.     3  vols. 


54 


FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 


and  out  of  this  truse  was  ex- 
cepted ye  Lorde  Philyppe  of 
Nauerr  and  his  alyes,  the  Coun- 
tesse  of  Mountfort,  and  the 
ducy  of  Bretayne. 

Anone  after,  the  french  Kyng 
was  remoued  fro  the  Sauoy  to 
the  castell  of  Wyndsore,  and 
all  his  householde,  and  went  a 
huntyng  and  a  jaukyng  ther 
about  at  his  pleasur,  and  the 
lorde  Philypp  his  son  with  hym ; 
and  all  the  other  prisoners 
abode  styll  at  London,  and 
went  to  se  the  Kyng  at  their 
pleasure,  and  were  receyued  all 
onely  on  their  faythes." 


to  anie  perfect  conclusion,  al- 
though they  remained  for  the 
space  of  two  yeares;  but  yet 
onlie  by  good  means  they  pro- 
cured a  truce  betweene  the  said 
kings  and  their  assistan  to  in- 
dure  from  the  time  of  the  pub- 
lication thereof,  unto  the  feast 
of  S.  John  Baptist,  which 
should  be  in  the  year  1359;  out 
of  which  the  truce  was  ex- 
cepted the  L.  Philip  of  Nau- 
verre  and  his  allies,  the  Coun- 
tess of  Montfort  and  the  whole 
duchie  of  Britaine. 

Anone  after,  the  French  king 
was  remoued  from  Sauoie  unto 
the  castell  of  Windsor  with  all 
his  household  and  then  he  went 
on  hunting  and  hawking  there- 
about at  his  pleasure  and  the 
lorde  Philip  his  sonne  with  him : 
all  the  residue  of  the  prisoners 
abode  still  at  London  but  were 
suffered  to  go  up  and  downe 
and  to  come  to  the  court  when 
they  would." 


John  Stow 

Acquaintance  has  already  been  made  with  John  Stow 
and  his  bitter  altercations  with  his  rival  Richard  Grafton. 
Stow  holds  the  record  for  the  most  extensive  and  conscien- 
tious series  of  historical  works  of  all  the  chroniclers.  He 
is  famous  not  only  for  his  Summarie  of  Englishe  Chron- 
icles, but  also  for  his  Annates  and  his  Survey  of  London. 

The  Annates,  his  chief  claim  to  history  in  the  large,  first 


'    FROISSART    AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLES  55 

published  in  1580,  is  excellent  in  chronological  exactness. 
Camden  wrote  of  him:  "His  industry  is  praised  by  all, 
though  his  judgment  leaves  something  to  seek ;  but  his  work 
is  of  such  quality  as  to  entitle  him  to  a  foremost  place 
amongst  our  annalists."  We  also  know  that  he  was  "a 
zealous  collector  of  chronicles  and  memorials,"  and  "an 
indefatigable  searcher  of  records."15 

Stimulated  probably  by  his  keen  rivalry  with  Grafton, 
who  had  restored  Froissart,  Stow  searched  for  other  sources 
and  brought  forward  the  chronicles  of  Matthew  Paris,  and 
Thomas  Walsingham.  For  the  period  1327-1400  he  relied 
mainly  upon  Walsingham  and  Knighton,  two  authentic 
contemporary  sources.  Only  in  three  instances  did  he  quote 
from  Berners'  translation:  a  paragraph  concerning  one, 
William  Wicham  (Annales  1631,  p.  267)  ;  a  passage  of  six- 
teen lines  describing  the  battle  of  Otterburn  (p.  267)  ;  and 
a  description  of  Froissart 's  visit  to  England  in  1395,  and 
of  the  Irish  expedition  of  Richard  in  the  same  year.  His 
indebtedness  to  Berners  for  this  passage  is  clearly  evident : 

Berners,  II,  p.   610  Stow,  p.  31016 

"  Than  I  demaunded  of  hym  "  He  demaunded  of  Sir  Wil- 

the  maner  of  the  hole  that  is  in  Ham  Lisle  ...  the  manner  of 

Irelande  called  Saynt  Patrykes  the  hole  that  is  in  Ireland  is 

purgatorie,  if  it  were  true  that  called    Saynt    Patrikes   purga- 

was  sayd  of  it  or  nat.     Then  tory,  if  it  were  true  that  was 

he  sayd  that  of  a  suretie  suche  said  of  it  or  not ;  who  answered 

a  hole  there  was,   and  that  a  that  such  a  hole  there  was  and 

knyght  of  Englande  hadde  ben  that      himsele      and      another 

there  whyle  the  Kynge  laye  at  Knight   had   been   there   while 

Dunelyn.  .  .  ."  the  King  lay  at  Dubline.  .  .  ." 

Several  years  later  in  1598  and  1603,  Stow  had  reference 
to  Berners'  Froissart  again  for  his  Survey  of  London.     In 

is  Kingsford,  Eng.  Hist.  Lit.  in  the  15th  Cen.,  p.  266. 
^  Annates,  London,  1631. 


56  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

the  description  of  the  Tower  Royall  he  writes  "but  on  the 
15  of  June  (saith  Frosard)  Wat  Tyler  being  slaine,  the 
Kyng  went  to  this  Ladie  Princesse  his  mother,  then  lodged 
in  the  Tower  Royall.  .  .  .17  That  Stow  could  not  improve 
upon  the  style  of  Lord  Berners  is  proved  by  the  following 
description  of  the  royal  procession,  which  represents  Ber- 
ners at  his  best  and  which  the  later  historian  was  wise 
enough  to  leave  intact : 

Berners   Chap.   CLXIX  Stow,  Survey,  II,  p.  30 

"  So  the  same  Sonday,  about  "  At  the  day  appointed,  there 

thre  of  the  clocke  at  afternone,  issued  forth  of  the  tower,  about 

there   issued   out  of  the  toure  the  third  houre  of  the  day,  60 

of    London,    first,    thre    score  coursers,    apparalled    for    the 

coursers     apparalled     for    the  lusts,  and  vpon  every  one  an 

justes,    and    on    every    one    a  Esquier  of  honour  riding  a  soft 

squier  of  honour  ridyng  a  sof te  pace :     then     came     forth     60 

pase.      Than    issued    out    thre  Ladyes     of     honour     mounted 

score  ladyes  of  honour  mounted  vpon  palfraies,   riding  on   the 

on  fayre  palfreys,  ridying  on  one  side,  richly  apparelled,  and 

the    one    syde,    richely    appar-  every  Lady  led  a  knyght." 
elled;  and  every  lady  ledde  a 
knight." 

John  Speed 

John  Speed  is  the  last  of  the  chroniclers  to  make  exten- 
sive use  of  Berners '  Froissart.  Although  he  added  nothing 
new  in  the  way  of  historical  facts,  he  wrote  his  chronicle 
in  an  ornate  and  finished  style  with  a  charm  of  phrasing 
not  found  in  other  chronicles.  Moreover  the  form  of  his 
history  is  compact  and  well  ordered ;  his  narrative  complete 
and  adequate.  That  it  received  the  commendation  of  Bol- 
ton, none  too  generous  a  critic  of  histories,  is  sufficient 
comment.     His  History  of  Great  Britaine  appeared  in  1611 

it  Kingsford,  Survey  of  London.  2  vols.  I,  p.  71.  Cf.  also  p. 
244. 


FROISSART    AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLES 


57 


and  like  the  other  chronicles  presents  a  wonderful  array  of 
authorities,  showing  that  he  had  the  entire  literature  of 
history  before  him.  Like  the  others  he  frequently  refers 
in  his  margins  to  Froissard,  although  he  has  also  digested 
the  works  of  Walsingham,  Vergil,  Grafton,  Holinshed,  Stow, 
and  others.  The  adoption  of  Berners'  diction  in  the  follow- 
ing passage  shows  that  he  used  the  English  version  of 
Froissart : 


Berners,  Chap.  CXXVIII 
"  Than  the  Kyng  caused  a 
parlee  to  be  made  by  the  wode 
syde  behynde  his  hoost,  and 
ther  was  set  all  cartes  and  car- 
yages,  ande  within  the  parke 
were  all  their  horses,  for  every 
man  was  a  fote  .  .  .  than  the 
Kyng  lept  on  a  hobby  with  a 
whyte  rodde  in  his  hand  one  of 
his  marshals  on  the  one  hande 
and  the  other  on  the  other 
hand : " 


Speed,  p.  57718 
"  King  Edward  closed  his 
battels  at  ther  back  ...  by 
felling  and  plashing  of  Trees, 
placing  his  carriages  there  and 
other  impediments  whatsoeuer, 
having  commanded  all  men  to 
put  from  them  their  horses, 
which  were  left  among  the  car- 
riages .  .  .  Thus  placed  to  the 
best  advantage,  King  Edward 
visiteth  the  ranckes  in  person, 
riding  upon  a  pleasant  Hobby, 
hauing  onely  a  white  rod  in  his 
hand  betweene  the  two  mar- 
shals of  his  fiield  .  .  ." 


Samuel  Daniel 

The  History  of  Samuel  Daniel,  which  appeared  a  year 
later  than  Speed's  History  of  Britaine,  remains  for  con- 
sideration. The  Collection  of  the  History  of  England, 
Daniel's  chief  work  in  prose,  gained  him  some  fame  among 
his  friends.  It  extends,  however,  only  to  the  end  of  the 
reign  of  Edward  III  and  "heere,"  he  says,  "I  leaue,  unless 

is  For  other  references  to  Froissart,  see  Speed,  pp.  95,  582,  599, 
604. 


58  FROISSAET  AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

by  this  which  is  done,  I  finde  incouregement  to  goe  on." 
Doubtless  the  encouragement  was  not  forthcoming,  and  it 
is  not  hard  to  see  why.  The  narrative  is  a  dull  and  pro- 
saic catalogue  of  names,  dates  and  events  with  no  life  or 
color,  and  no  insight  into  history,  or  appreciation  of  its 
meaning.  Moreover  the  work  resembles  the  summaries 
and  epitomes  of  history  (he  calls  it  a  Breuiary)  such  as 
Stow  and  Grafton  had  ceaselessly  issued,  although,  of 
course,  it  is  more  extensive  and  pretentious.  In  his  Cer- 
tain Advertisements  to  the  Reader,  he  gives  the  names  of 
his  sources,  and  his  reference  to  Froissart  comes  naturally 
among  the  long  list  of  authorities  that  he  consulted  for  his 
last  chapters  on  Edward  III :  "In  the  Lines  of  Edward  the 
First,  Edward  the  Second  and  Third:  Froissart  and  Wal- 
singham  with  such  Collections  as  by  Polydore  Virgile, 
Fabain,  Grafton,  Hall,  Holingshed,  Stow  and  Speed,  dili- 
gent and  Famous  Transilors  in  the  search  of  our  History, 
have  beene  made  and  divulged  to  the  world.19 

The  following  table  summarizes  the  sources  of  English 
chronicles  for  the  reigns  of  Edward  III  and  Richard  II 
(1325-1400)  with  special  reference  to  Berners'  Froissart. 

Main  Sources  Minor  Sources 

1516  Fabian.    Les  Chroniques  de  St.  Denys.     Polyehronicon. 

Brute. 

Froissart   (twice 
from  French 
version). 

1534  Vergil.    Fabian.  Froissart  from 

French  version. 
i»  Grosart,  IV,  p.  82. 


PROISSART    AND   THE  ENGLISH 

CHRONICLES                 59 

1542  Hall.    Vergil. 

Polyehronicon. 

Fabian  and  others. 

Traison  et  Mort  du 

Roy  Richart. 

1568  Grafton.     Berners'  "  Froissart." 

Vergil. 

Fabian. 

1578  Holinshed.     Berners'  "  Froissart." 

Knighton. 

Thomas  Walsingham. 

Jacob  Meir. 

Fabian. 

Caxton. 

Polydore  Vergil. 

Grafton  (five 

times). 

Stow  (five  times). 

1580  Stow.    Walsingham. 

Berners'  "  Frois- 

Knighton. 

sart  "    (three 

times). 

Also   employed   in 

Survey  of  Lon- 

don. 

1611  Speed.    Walsingham. 

All  others. 

Froissart. 
1612  Daniel.    Froissart  and  all  others. 


PART   II 

FROISSART  AND  THE  ENGLISH  CHRONICLE 
PLAYS 


61 


CHRONOLOGICAL  OUTLINE  FOR  PART  II 

1377  Richard  II  ascends  the  throne  under  the  protectorate  of  his 

uncle,  Duke  of  Gloucester  (Woodstock). 
1381  Wat  Tyler  and  Jack  Straw  Rebellion. 
1388  Richard  throws  off  control  of  Gloucester. 
1397  Murder  of  Gloucester  at  Calais. 
1399  Deposition  and  murder  of  Richard  II. 
1587  Life  and  Death  of  Jack  Straw  (written?). 
1589-90?  The  Raigne  of  King  Edward  the  Third  (written). 
1591?  A  Tragedy  of  Richard  the  Second  (Woodstock)   (written). 
1593-94  First  quarto  of  Jack  Straw. 
1594  First  four  books  of  the  Civil  Wars  S.  R. 
1595-7  Shakespeare's  Richard  the  Second  (written). 

1596  First  quarto  of  Edward  the  Third. 

1597  First  quarto  of  Richard  the  Second  (Shakespeare). 
1597  First  edition  of  Drayton's  England's  Heroicall  Epistles. 


62 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    STORY    OF    KING   EODWAUD   III 

The  career  of  King  Edward  III  is  famous  chiefly  for  his 
brilliant  series  of  victories  over  the  Scots  and  the  French 
during  the  Hundred  Years  War.  In  history  he  is  remem- 
bered as  the  father  of  the  Black  Prince,  watching  the  brave 
deeds  of  his  son  at  Crecy  and  Poitiers,  but  in  poetry  and 
fable  King  Edward  is  chiefly  celebrated  as  the  lover  of  the 
beautiful  and  virtuous  Countess  of  Salisbury. 

This  famous  love  episode  between  the  Countess  and  King 
Edward,  originating  perhaps  in  the  gossip  of  Edward's 
court  after  his  expedition  to  Scotland  against  David  Bruce 
in  1341,  found  its  way  into  history  in  the  French  chronicle 
of  Jean  le  Bel.  Froissart,  who  had  visited  England  in 
1361,  apparently  had  heard  the  story  at  court  in  the 
elaborate  dress  that  time  and  imagination  had  given  it. 
Moreover  the  death  of  this  Countess,  who  dared  defy  the 
King,  having  taken  place  only  several  years  before,  had 
doubtless  caused  the  court  to  herald  her  fame.  At  any 
rate  when  Froissart  began  his  prose  history  by  incorporat- 
ing the  work  of  Jean  le  Bel,  he  greatly  amplified  the  love 
story,  and  retold  it  with  all  the  elaboration  and  detail  that 
he  knew,  omitting,  however,  his  master's  gross  ending. 

Briefly  summarized  the  story  reads  as  follows.  During 
the  expedition  against  David  Bruce,  King  Edward  was 
forced  to  come  to  the  relief  of  the  Castle  of  Roxborough, 
then  under  siege  by  the  Scots.  Within  the  castle  lived  the 
Countess  of  Salisbury,  a  lady  famed  for  her  grace  and 
beauty.     Her  husband,  Sir  William  Montague,  was  absent 

63 


64  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

on  a  mission  to  France.  On  entering  the  castle  Edward, 
immediately  overcome  by  the  beauty  of  the  Countess,  made 
violent  love  to  her.  She  repelled  his  advances,  however, 
with  such  firmness,  grace,  and  dignity  that  Edward,  abashed 
and  chagrined,  respected  her  fidelity  and  went  off  to  the 
war. 

This  tale,  so  vividly  narrated  by  Froissart,  subsequently 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Italian  novelist  Bandello. 
As  Bandello  thought  this  story  a  little  too  tame  for  Italian 
taste,  he  proceeded  to  make  a  number  of  notable  changes 
and  additions  to  heighten  its  dramatic  effectiveness.  He 
brought  into  the  tale  a  secretary  and  letters  between  Ed- 
ward and  the  Countess ;  he  made  the  father  and  mother  of 
the  lady  pander  to  the  King;  he  killed  her  husband,  and 
portrayed  the  Countess  about  to  stab  herself,  and  then 
begging  the  King  to  slay  her;  and  finally  made  the  King 
propose  marriage,  and  actually  marry  her. 

With  Bandello 's  new  amplifications  and  adornments,  this 
episode  passed  over  all  modern  Europe,  appearing  for  four 
hundred  years  in  varying  forms  in  the  literatures  of  Eng- 
land, France,  Germany,  the  Netherlands,  and  Spain  as  Dr. 
Gustave  Liebau  has  demonstrated  in  his  exhaustive  study 
of  the  story.1 

We  are  concerned  here,  however,  with  the  ramifications 
of  the  story  in  England  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Although 
the  episode  was  known  in  England  through  Berners'  trans- 
lation of  Froissart  and  through  Grafton's  chronicle,  the 
majority  of  English  versions  follow  the  story  as  revised  by 
Bandello.  Bandello 's  version  came  into  England  by  way 
of  France,  for  in  1559  Boisteau  rendered  it  into  French  in 
Les  Histories  Tragiques;  and  William  Painter  translated 
Boisteau 's  account  for  his  Palace  of  Pleasure  (1566-7). 

Painter,  however,  introduced  the  story  by  a  preface  con- 

i  Litterarhistorische  Forschungen,  Berlin,  1900. 


THE   STORY  OF  EDWARD  III  65 

taining  some  attempted  corrections  that  have  added  to  the 
confusion  of  the  names  of  the  principal  characters.  He 
says: 

".  .  .  the  auctour  of  the  same  perchaunce  hath  not  rightlye 
touched  the  proper  names  of  the  aucthours  of  this  tragedie,  by 
perfecte  appellations:  as  Edward  the  third  for  his  eldest  sonne 
Edward  the  Prince  of  Wales  (who  as  I  read  in  Fabian)  maried 
the  Countesse  of  Salesburie,  which  before  was  Countesse  of  Kent, 
and  wife  unto  sir  Thomas  Holland :  and  whose  name,  (as  Polidore 
sayth)  was  Jane,  daughter  to  Edmond  Earle  of  Kent,  of  whom 
the  same  Prince  Edward  begat  Edward  that  died  in  his  childish 
yeres,  and  Richard  that  afterwards  was  King  of  England  the 
second  of  that  name,  and  for  that  she  was  kin  to  him,  was  de- 
vorced;  whose  sayde  father  maried  Philip,  daughter  to  the  earle 
of  Henault,  and  had  by  her  VII  sonnes:  and  Aelips  for  the  name 
of  the  sayde  Countesse,  beinge  none  suche  amonges  our  vulgare 
termes,  but  Frosard  remembreth  her  name  to  be  Alice  which  in 
deede  is  common  amonges  us :  and  the  Castell  of  Salesburie,  where 
there  is  none  by  that  name,  uppon  the  frontiers  of  Scotlande, 
albeit  the  same  Frosard  doth  make  mention  of  a  castell  of  the  Earle 
of  Salesburies  given  unto  him  by  Edward  the  third  when  he  was 
sir  William  Montague  and  maried  the  saide  Lady  Alice  for  his 
service  and  prowesse  against  the  Scottes;  and  Rosamburghe  for 
Roxboroughe:  and  that  the  said  Edwarde  when  hee  saw  that  hee 
could  not  by  loue  and  other  perswasions  attaine  the  Countesse  but 
by  force,  maried  the  same  Countesse,  which  is  altogether  untrue, 
for  that  Polydore  and  other  aucthors  do  remember  but  one  wife 
that  hee  had,  which  was  the  sayde  vertuous  Queene  Philip,  with 
other  like  defauts.  .  .  ."2 

In  spite  of  Painter's  explanations  Edward  III,  and  not 
his  son,  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  was  the  lover  of  the 
Countess.  Painter's  corrections  are  interesting,  however, 
as  proof  that  he  consulted  the  old  account  of  the  tale  as  told 

2  Painter,  Palace  of  Pleasure,  Jacobs.     London,  1890,  I,  p.  336. 
6 


66  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE    PLAY 

by  Berners'  Froissart.  His  mistakes,  moreover,  became 
stumbling  blocks  in  the  path,  of  a  later  poet,  who  composed 
two  verse  epistles  based  on  the  Palace  of  Pleasure.  This 
was  Michael  Drayton,  who  after  versifying  the  episode  in 
his  England's  Heroicall  Epistles,  1595-7,  reproduced  in  his 
Notes  of  the  Chronicle  history3  the  substance  of  Painter's 
preface.  This  led  him  also  to  entitle  the  two  epistles  Ed- 
ward the  Blacke-Prince  to  Alice  Countesse  of  Salisbury; 
and  Alice  Countesse  of  Salsbury  to  the  Blacke  Prince.11  In 
the  Notes  he  states  after  Painter: 

a  Bandello  ....  being  an  Italia  as  it  is  the  peoples  custom  in 
that  clime,  rather  to  faile  sometime  in  the  truth  of  circumstance 
.  .  .  thinking  it  to  be  a  greater  triall  that  a  Countesse  should  be 
sude  unto  by  a  King,  then  by  the  sonne  of  a  King,  and  conse- 
quently, that  the  honour  of  her  chastitie  should  be  more,  hath 
caused  it  to  be  generally  taken  so;  but  as  by  Poli&ore,  Fabian  and 
Froisard,  appeares  the  contrarie  is  true." 

Again  in  almost  the  words  of  Painter,  Drayton  says: 

".  .  .  whose  name  is  said  to  have  bin  Aelips;  but  that  being 
rejected  as  a  name  unknowne  among  us,  Froisard  is  rather  be- 
leeued,  who  calleth  her  Alice." 

This  literal  following  of  Painter  seems  to  prove  that  Dray- 
ton did  not  independently  consult  Berners'  Froissart. 

Three  other  Elizabethan  versions  of  this  tale  are  extant : 
(1)  The  Story  of  King  Edward  III  and  the  Countess  of 
Salisbury  in  prose  without  date  but  published  anonymously 
at  Whitehaven.  (2)  Of  King  Edward  III  and  the  Fair 
Countess  of  Salisbury,  a  ballad  (sometimes,  but  erroneously 
ascribed  to  Thomas  Deloney),  which  also  followed  Painter's 
version  and  appeared  according  to  Liebau  after  the  drama 

3  Poems.     Spenser  Soc,  1888,  I,  pp.  225  ff;  232. 

4  See  G.  Liebau.     Kbnig  Eduard  III,  etc.     Berlin,  1900,  pp.  17  ff. 


THE    STORY  OF  EDWARD   III  67 

King  Edward  III,  and  hence  is  probably  derived  from  it. 
(3)  The  well  known  play,  The  Baigne  of  King  Edward  III, 
anonymously  issued  in  1596. 5 

The  Raigne  of  King  Edward  the  Third 

The  Baigne  of  King  Edward  the  Third  was  entered  on 
the  Stationers'  Register,  and  licensed  for  publication  on 
December  1,  1595.  This  is  the  first  record  of  the  existence 
of  the  play,  but  no  evidence  has  yet  been  discovered  as  to 
where,  when  and  by  whom  it  was  either  written  or  acted. 
The  first  quarto  appeared  in  the  following  year  without 
signature  but  entitled:  "The  Raigne  of  King  Edward  the 
Third :  as  it  hath  bin  sundrie  times  plaied  about  the  Citie  of 
London  (London,  Printed  for  Cuthbert  Burby  1596)." 
Three  years  later  appeared  a  second  anonymous  quarto, 
again  printed  for  Burby,  bearing  the  title  ' '  The  Rayne  of 
King  Edward  III  as  it  hath  bene  sundry  times  played  about 
the  Citie  of  London.  Imprinted  at  London  by  Simon  Staf- 
ford for  Cuthbert  Burby;  and  are  to  be  sold  at  his  shop 
neere  the  Royall  Exchange  1599. ' '  Three  anonymous  quar- 
tos were  entered  on  the  Stationers'  Register  for  the  years 
1609,  1617,  and  1625,  but  none  of  them  is  extant.  In  the 
lists  of  transfers  of  copyright  plays,  Edward  III  was  as- 
signed to  Welby  by  Mrs.  Burby  on  October  16,  1609;  on 
March  2,  1617,  by  Welby  to  Snodham;  on  February  23, 
1625,  by  Mrs.  Snodham  to  W.  Stansby;  and  on  March  4, 
1638,  by  Mrs.  Stansby  to  Bishop.  This  long  list  of  trans- 
fers, and  the  phrase  "sundry  times  played"  are  evidence 
of  its  popularity,  while  Thomas  Heywood  likewise  refers 

s  In  the  first  story  of  Pettie  's  Palace  of  Pleasure,  entitled  Camma 
and  Sinorix,  Camma  refers  to  Painter's  version  of  the  Countess  of 
Salisbury.     Cf.  King's  Classics,  Gollancz,  vol.  I,  p.  33. 


68  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

to  its  reception  by  the  Elizabethan  playgoers  in  his  Apology 
for  Actors:6 

"  What  English  prince,  should  hee  behold  the  true  portraiture 
of  that  famous  King  Edward  the  Third,  foraging  France,  taking 
so  great  a  king  captive  in  his  owne  country,  quartering  the  Eng- 
lish lyons  with  the  French  flowerdelyce,  and  would  not  bee  sud- 
denly inflam'd  with  so  royale  a  spectacle,  being  made  apt  and  fit 
for  the  like  achievement." 

In  1656  Edward  III  is  coupled  with  Shakespeare's  name 
in  "an  exact  and  perfect  Catalogue  of  all  plays  that  are 
printed"  which  was  prefixed  to  Goffe's  Careless  Shepherd- 
ess. His  ascription  of  the  play  to  Shakespeare  is  rendered 
untrustworthy  by  his  statement  that  Edward  II  and  Edward 
IV  were  also  Shakespeare 's.  Although  the  drama  was  listed 
in  Langbaine's  Account  of  Dramatick  Poets  and  in  other 
annals  of  plays,  it  was  not  reprinted  until  1760  when  Capell 
published  his  Prolusions  or  Select  Pieces  of  Ancient  Poetry. 
He  considered  it  a  "play  thought  to  be  writ  by  Shake- 
speare, ' ' — an  opinion  based  on  aesthetic  considerations,  and 
on  his  strange  notion  that  in  1595  there  was  no  known  writer 
equal  to  such  a  play.  Like  the  majority  of  18th  century 
editors,  Capell  followed  strictly  neither  quarto,  but  relied 
on  his  own  judgment  for  meanings  of  lines.  He  made  the 
first  table  of  dramatis  personae,  divided  the  play  into  acts 
and  scenes,  and  corrected  many  unintelligible  passages. 
But  an  unfortunate  system  of  editing  led  him  to  confuse 
not  only  his  own  text,  but  all  succeeding  issues  that  fol- 
lowed his  edition.  He  placed  a  list  of  original  readings  of 
quartos  with  a  number  of  his  own  conjectural  readings,  and 
succeeding  editors  in  ignorance  of  this  unique  method  ac- 
cepted the  whole  list  as  original  readings  of  the  quartos. 
Hence  the  drama  continued  in  various  mutilated  forms 
through  the  editions  of  Tieck,  1851 ;  Delius,  1854 ;  Collier, 

e  Shak.  Soc.  Pub.,  London,  1843.     V,  15,  p.  21. 


THE    STORY  OF  EDWARD   III  69 

1864;  Moltke,  1869;  and  all  others  previous  to  1886.  In 
this  year  Warnke  and  Proescholdt  discovered  the  mistake 
and  issued  the  first  reliable  text. 

The  sources  of  Edward  III  have  been  frequently  sought 
in  the  chronicles  of  Holinshed  and  in  the  Palace  of  Pleasure 
by  William  Painter.  The  first  two  acts  of  the  drama  de- 
scribe Edward's  expedition  against  the  Scots,  and  his  love 
for  the  Countess  of  Salisbury;  the  last  three  acts  his  wars 
with  France;  the  sea  fight  at  Sluys,  and  the  brilliant  vic- 
tories of  the  Black  Prince  at  Crecy,  Calais  and  Poitiers. 

Critics  have  generally  asserted  that  the  wars  (I,  1;  II, 
IV,  V)  came  from  Holinshed,  and  the  love  episode  (I,  2; 
120-III)  from  Painter's  Palace  of  Pleasure.  To  support 
this  opinion  Warnke  and  Proescholdt  selected  passages  from 
Holinshed  with  reference  to  the  play,  and  discussions  of 
sources  since  their  edition7  have  accepted  this  source  as 
final.  Dr.  Liebau,  who  has  been  most  thorough  in  his  val- 
uable researches  of  the  Countess  of  Salisbury  story  in  mod- 
ern literatures,  has  traced  its  literary  origin  to  Jean  le  Bel 
and  Froissart.  But  although  he  was  aware  of  Berners' 
translation,  he  neglected  like  his  predecessors  to  compare  it 
with  the  play.  Re-examination  of  the  chronicle  material 
shows  that  Holinshed  contains  nothing  with  reference  to 
the  play  that  is  not  set  forth  more  fully  in  Froissart ;  and 
that  there  are  scenes  in  the  play  for  which  Holinshed  has 
no  account,  that  Froissart  describes  in  detail.  One  of  these 
scenes  depicts  the  Villiers-Salisbury  story,  which  has  long 
lacked  a  source,  and  which  is  treated  by  no  English  chron- 
icle. Moreover,  fully  one  half  of  the  Countess  episode 
itself,  it  is  easy  to  demonstrate,  was  drawn  by  the  dramatist 
directly  from  Froissart;  while  only  the  other  half  was  de- 
rived from  Painter.  Grafton's  chronicle,  which,  as  has 
been  noted,  incorporated  the  Countess  story  from  Berners' 

7  Pseudo-Shakespearian  Plays,  Halle,   1886. 


70  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE    PLAY 

translation,  might  also  have  supplied  the  material  for  the 
play,  had  he  not,  like  all  the  English  chroniclers,  omitted 
the  aforementioned  Villiers- Salisbury  episode  (IV,  1-3). 
Therefore,  it  seems  conclusive  that  Berners '  Froissart  which 
contains  both  of  these  episodes  must  have  been  the  direct 
source  of  Edward  III.  The  play  also  often  resembles  in  a 
striking  way  the  order  of  the  chronicle  narrative,  as  well  as 
its  details  and  phraseology. 

It  has  been  thought  best  to  substantiate  these  statements 
by  full  quotations  from  Berners'  Froissart,  selected  and 
arranged  under  references  to  lines  of  the  play.  To  facili- 
tate the  reader,  brief  summaries  of  each  act  or  scene  are 
given  to  introduce  the  subject  matter.  The  reader  is  urged, 
however,  to  follow  the  quotations  from  the  chronicles  in 
conjunction  and  comparison  with  the  text  of  the  play.8 

Sources  for  Edward  III 

Act  I 
Scene  One. 

London.  Embassy  from  France,  demanding  homage. 
Edward's  claim  to  the  throne.  Defiance  of  Edward. 
Preparation  for  war  against  the  Scots. 

(Sc.  1,  1.  1-5)  (Ber.  Chap.  25, 26.)  "  How  the  lorde  syr  Robert 
of  Artoyse  was  chased  out  of  the  realme  of  Fraunce."  a  and 
in  the  meantyme,  syr  Robert,  erle  of  Artoys,  came  into  Inglande, 
dysguysed  lyk  a  merchaunt,  and  the  king  receyned  hym  right  joy- 
ously, and  reteyned  hym  as  one  of  his  counsaile,  .  .  .  and  syr 
Robert  of  Artoys  .  .  .  nuer  ceassed  day  nor  nyght  in  shewyng  the 
kyng  what  ryht  he  had  to  the  crowne  of  Fraunce." 

(Sc.  1,  1.  5-50)  (Ber.  Chap.  5)  "  Now  sheweth  the  hystery  that 
this  Philip  la  Beau,  kyng  of  France,  had  three  sones,  and  a  feyre 
doughter,  Isabel  married  into  Ingland  to  kyng  Edward  the  second ; 

s  References  to  the  play  follow  the  edition  by  Tucker-Brooke. 
Shakespeare  Apocrypha. 


THE    STORY   OF   EDWARD   III  71 

and  these  three  sonnes  the  eldest  named  Lewes  .  .  .  the  second 
had  to  name  Philip  the  great,  or  the  long,  and  the  thyrd  was 
called  Charles :  and  all  three  were  kynges  of  Fraunce  after  theyr 
father's  discease  by  ryght  succession  eche  after  other,  without 
having  any  issue  male  of  theyr  bodies  lawfully  begoten.  So 
that  after  the  deth  of  Charles  last  kyng  of  the  three,  the  twelue 
piers  and  all  the  baros  of  Fraunce  wold  nat  gyue  the  realme  to 
Isabell  the  sister  .  .  .  (Salic  law)  .  .  . ,  so  that  by  these  reasons 
.  .  .  (they)  .  .  .  dyd  gyue  the  realme  of  France  to  the  Lord 
Philyp  of  Valois,  nephew  sometyme  to  Philyp  la  Beawe." 

(Se.  1,  1.  52-66)  (Ber.  Chap.  24)  "  And  so  it  was  about  a  yere 
after  ye  Phylip  of  Valoys  was  crowned  Kyng  of  France,  and  that 
all  the  barones  and  nobles  of  the  realme  had  made  their  homage 
and  fealty  to  him,  except  the  yong  king  of  England  who  had  not 
done  his  homage  for  the  duchy  of  Guyen" 

(Sc.  1, 1.  67-120)  {Ber.  Chap.  35)  "  How  Kynge  Edwarde  and 
all  his  alyes  dyd  defye  the  frenche  kyng." 

Countess  Episode 
Act  I,  Scene  I,  line  120  to  Act  II 

(Sc.  1,  1.  120-138)  {Ber.  Chap.  76)  "How  the  scottes  besieged 
a  castell  of  therle  of  Salysburies." 

"  Than  king  Dauyd  was  couselled  to  drawe  abacke  by  ye  ryuer 
of  Tyne,  and  to  drawe  toward  Carlyle;  and  as  he  went  thyder- 
ward,  he  loged  that  nyght  besyde  a  castel  of  therle  of  Salysburies, 
the  which  was  well  kept  with  men  a  warn  captayne  thereof  was 
sir  Wyllyam  Montagu,  son  to  therle  of  Salisburis  suster.  .  .  .  The 
next  day  the  King  of  scottes  comaunded  that  euery  man  sholde  be 
redy  to  assayle,  and  they  within  were  redy  to  defende;  ther  was  a 
sore  assaut,  and  a  perylous:  they  might  a  ben  sene  many  noble 
dedes  on  both  partes.  There  was  within  present,  the  noble  coun- 
tesse  of  Salysbury,  who  was  as  then  reputed  for  the  most  sagest 
and  f ayrest  lady  of  all  England :  the  castell  parteyned  to  her  hus- 
band therle  of  Salisbury,  who  was  taken  prisoner  with  the  earle 
of  Suffolke  before  Lyle  in  Flanders,  as  ye  have  heard  before,  and 
was  in  prison  as  than  in  the  Chatelot  of  Parys  (ef.  line  133) ;  the 
kyng  of  Englande  gaue  ye  same  castell  to  the  sayd  erle  whan 


72  FROISSART  AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

he  maryd  first  the  sayd  Lady  for  the  prowes  and  gode  seruyce  he 
had  done  before  .  .  .  this  noble  lady  conforted  them  greatly 
within  for  by  regarde  of  such  a  lady,  and  by  her  swete  coforting, 
a  man  ought  to  be  worthe  two  men  at  nede.  .  .  .  Theye  of  the 
castell  sawe  well,  if  Kynge  Dauyd  cotynued  his  sege,  how  they 
shuld  haue  moche  ado  to  defende  them  and  their  castell;  wherfore 
they  toke  eounsell  amonge  them,  to  send  to  Kyng  Edward,  who 
lay  at  Yorke  .  .  .  than  they  loked  among  them  who  shulde  to  the 
message  but  they  coulde  fynde  none  that  wolde  leaue  the  castell 
.  .  .  than  whan  the  captayne  Sir  William  Montagu  saw  that,  he 
sayd  ...  I  shall  put  my  body  in  aduentur  to  do  this  message. 
.  .  .  Thus  at  mydnight,  Sir  Wyllyam  Montagu  passed  through 
thoost "...  (slew  two  opposing  Scots,  and  arriving  at  the  camp 
of  King  Edward,  delivered  the  message). 

Ber.,  Chap.  73  (for  the  names  of  the  besieged  cities,  lines  127- 
130)  "ye  haue  heard  here  before  .  .  .  how  the  lordes  of  Scot- 
lande  had  taken  agayne  dyuers  towns  and  fortresses  for  thglyssh- 
men,  such  as  they  helde  in  Scotlande  .  .  .  the  citie  of  Berwyke 
and  Rousburge  .  .  .  they  passed  nat  ferre  of  fro  Berwyke  and 
came  to  the  ryuer  Tyne,  brennyng  all  the  country  round  about 
them  and  at  last  came  to  Newcastle.  .  .  ." 

Painter  I,  342. 14  (for  the  name  Warwick,  father  of  the  Coun- 
tess of  Salisbury.)  "  And  after  she  had  lamented  the  death  of  her 
husband  .  .  .  she  returned  to  her  father's  house  which  was  Earl 
of  Warwick" 

(Sc.  1,  1.  133-4)  {Ber.  Chap.  78.)  "Thus  there  Mountefori 
conquered  the  country  and  made  himself  to  be  called  the  Duke  of 
Britain.  .  .  ." 

Scene  Two. 

King  David  assures  the  French  King  that  he  will  not 
parley  with  Edward.  Edward  arrives  at  the  castle  of 
Roxbourough  and  falls  in  love  with  the  Countess. 

(Sc.  2,  1.  18-39)  (Ber.  Chap.  33.)     "And  the  french  king  sent 
certayne  messagners  into  Scotland,  to  the  lordes  ther,  such  as  kept 
i*  Palace  of  Pleasure,  Jacobs,  London,   1890. 


THE    STORY   OF   EDWARD   III  73 

warr  agaynst  theglisshmen,  ofidryng  them  great  ayde  and  confort, 
so  yt  they  wolde  take  no  peace,  nor  truse,  with  ye  kyng  of 
Englande,  .  .  .  Than  the  lordes  of  Scottlande  couselled  togyder, 
and  joyously  they  accorded  to  his  request  and  so  sealed  and 
sware  with  the  kyng  their  lorde." 

(Sc.  2, 1.  47-93)  (Ber.  Chap.  77.)  "  The  same  day  yt  the  scottes 
departed  fro  the  sayd  castell,  kyng  Edward  came  thyder,  with  all 
hist  host,  about  noon,  and  came  to  the  same  place  wher  as  the 
scottes  had  loged,  and  was  sore  displeased  that  he  founde  nat  the 
scottes  ther,  for  he  cae  thyder  in  such  hast,  ye  his  horse  and  men 
wer  sore  traueled.  Than  he  comaunded  to  lodge  ther  that  nyght, 
and  sayd,  howe  he  wolde  go  to  ye  castell,  and  the  noble  lady 
therein,  for  he  had  nat  sene  her  sythe  she  was  maryed  before :  than 
euery  ma  toke  his  logyng  as  he  lyst.  And  assone  as  the  kyng  was 
unarmed,  he  toke  a  X  or  XII  knyghtes  wt  hym,  and  went  to  the 
castell,  to  salute  the  countesse  of  Salisbury,  and  to  se  the  maner 
of  the  assautes  of  the  scottes,  and  the  defence  that  was  made 
agaynst  them.  Assone  as  the  lady  knewe  of  ye  kynges  comyng, 
she  set  opyn  the  gates,  and  cae  out  so  richely  be  sene,  that  euery 
man  maueyled  of  her  beauty,  and  coude  nat  cease  to  regarde  her 
noblenes  with  her  great  beauty,  and  the  gracyous  wordes  and 
countenaunce  that  she  made:  whan  she  came  to  the  kyng,  she 
knelyd  downe  to  the  yerth  (cf.  lines  107-8; — a  detail  not  found 
in  Painter)  thankyng  hym  of  his  socours,  and  so  ledde  hym  into 
the  castell,  to  make  hym  chere  and  honour,  as  she  that  coude 
ryght  well  do  it:  euery  man  regarded  her  maruelusly  the  hym- 
selfe  coude  nat  witholde  his  regardyng  of  her,  for  he  thought  that 
he  neuer  sawe  before,  so  noble,  nor  so  fayre  a  lady:  he  was 
stryken  therewith  to  the  hert,  with  a  sparcle  of  fyne  loue,  that 
endured  longe  after;  he  thought  no  lady  in  the  worlde  so  worthy 
to  be  beloued  as  she.  Thus  they  entred  into  the  castell,  hande  in 
hande;  the  lady  ledde  hym  first  into  the  hall  and  after  into  the 
chabre,  nobly  aparelled;  the  kyng  regarded  so  the  lady  that  he 
was  abasshed:  at  last  he  wet  to  a  wyndo  to  rest  hym,  and  so  fell 
in  a  gret  study:  the  lady  went  about  to  make  chere  to  the  lordes 
and  knyghtes  that  were  ther,  and  comaunded  to  dresse  the  hall 
for  dyner;  whan  she  had  al  deuysed  and  comaunded,  thane  she 


74  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

came  to  the  kyng  with  a  mery  chere,  who  was  in  a  gret  study, 
(and  she  sayd)  dere  syr,  (cf.  following  speech  with  II,  1,  189- 
196)  why  do  ye  study  so  for,  your  grace  nat  dyspleased,  it  apar- 
teyneth  nat  to  you  so  to  do :  rather  ye  shulde  make  good  chere  and 
be  iuyfull,  seyng  ye  haue  chased  away  your  enemies,  who  durst 
nat  abyde  you;  let  other  men  study  for  the  remynant:  than  the 
kyng  sayd,  a,  dere  lady,  knowe  for  trouthe,  that  syth  I  entred 
into  the  castell,  ther  is  a  study  coe  to  my  mynde,  so  yt  I  can  nat 
chuse  but  to  muse,  nor  can  I  nat  tell  what  shall  fall  therof,  put  it 
out  of  my  herte  I  can  nat :  a,  sir,  quoth  the  lady,  ye  ought  alwayes 
to  make  good  chere,  to  confort  therwith  your  peple;  god  hath 
ayded  you  so  in  your  besynes,  and  hath  gyuen  you  so  great  graces, 
that  ye  be  the  moste  douted  and  honoured  prince  in  all  christedome 
and  if  the  kyng  of  scottes  haue  done  you  any  dyspyte  or  damage, 
ye  may  well  amende  it  whan  it  shall  please  you,  as  ye  haue  done 
dyuerse  tymes  or  this;  sir,  leaue  musyng  and  come  into  ye  hall, 
if  it  please  you,  your  dyner  is  all  redy:  a,  fayre  lady,  quoth  the 
kyng;  other  thynges  lyeth  at  my  hert  that  ye  knowe  nat  of;  but 
surely  ye  swete  behauyng,  the  perfyt  wysedom,  the  good  grace, 
noblenes,  and  exellent  beauty  that  I  se  in  you,  hath  so  sore  sur- 
prised my  hert,  yt  I  can  nat  but  loue  you,  and  without  your  loue 
I  am  but  deed  (cf.  211-216)  .  .  .  than  the  lady  sayde,  a,  ryght 
noble  prince,  for  goddessake  mocke  nor  tempt  me  nat :  I  can  nat 
byleue  that  it  is  true  that  ye  say,  nor  that  so  noble  a  prince  as  ye 
be,  wold  thynke  to  dyshonour  me,  and  my  lorde,  my  husbande, 
who  is  so  valyant  a  knight,  and  hath  done  your  grace  so  gode 
seruyce,  and  as  yet  lyethe  in  prison  for  your  quarell;  certely  sir, 
ye  shulde  in  this  case  haue  but  a  small  prayse,  and  nothing  the 
better  therby:  I  had  neuer  as  yet  such  a  thought  in  my  hert,  nor 
I  trust  in  god  neuer  shall  haue,  for  no  man  lyueng;  (cf.  216-276) 
if  I  had  any  suche  intencyon,  your  grace  ought  nat  all  onely  to 
blame  me,  but  also  to  punysshe  my  body,  ye  and  by  true  iustice 
to  be  dismebred;  therwith  the  lady  departed  from  the  kyng,  and 
went  into  the  hall  to  hast  the  dyner,  than  she  returned  agayne  to 
the  kyng,  and  broght  some  of  his  knyghtes  with  her,  and  sayd, 
sir,  yf  it  please  you  to  come  into  the  hall,  your  knightes  abideth 
for  you  to  wasshe,  ye  haue  been  to  long  fastyng.     Than  ye  kyng 


THE    STORY   OF   EDWARD   III  75 

went  into  the  hall  and  wassht,  and  sat  down  amonge  his  lordes, 
and  the  lady  also;  the  kyng  etc.  but  lytell,  he  cast  his  eyen  upon 
the  lady :  of  his  sadness  his  knyghtes  had  maruell,  for  he  was  not 
acustomed  so  to  be;  some  thought  it  was  bycause  the  scottes  were 
scaped  from  hym.  All  yt  day  the  kyng  taryed  ther,  and  wyst  nat 
what  to  do ;  sotyme  he  ymagined  yt  honour  and  trouth  def eded  him 
to  set  his  hert  in  such  a  case,  to  dyshonour  such  a  lady,  and  so 
true  a  knyght  as  her  husband  was,  who  had  alwayes  well  and 
truely  serued  hym.  On  thother  part,  loue  so  constrayned  hym, 
that  the  power  therof  surmounted  honour  and  trouth:  thus  ye 
kyng  debated  in  hymself  all  that  day,  and  all  that  night;  in  the 
mornyng  he  arose  and  dysloged  all  his  hoost  and  drewe  after  the 
scottes,  to  chase  them  out  of  his  realme." 

Countess  Episode  (continued) 

Act  II 

Scene  One. 

The  dramatist  drew  from  Painter's  Palace  of  Pleasure1* 
the  chief  events  of  Act  II,  scene  1: — King  Edward's  letter 
to  the  Countess ;  his  conference  with  the  Countess  and  her 
father,  Warwick ;  Warwick 's  conference  with  his  daughter ; 
and  the  following  ''dagger"  scene.  Although  details  of 
the  scenes  between  Edward  and  the  Countess  may  well  be 
derived  from  either  Berners  or  Painter,  there  is  abundant 
evidence  to  show  that  the  author  constantly  referred  to 
Berners,  e.  g.,  the  kneeling  of  the  Countess  before  the  King. 

Scene  Two. 

The  Emperor  of  Almaigne  appoints  Edward  III  lieuten- 
ant general. 

(Sc.  2,  1.  1-38)  (Ber.  Chap.  32.)  "Than  it  was  ordayned,  that 
the  Marques  of  Jullers  shulde  go  to  themperour  (of  Almaigne)  . . . 
the  Marques  and  his  copany  foude  the  emperour  at  Florebetche, 
and  shewed  hym  the  cause  of  their  commyng  .  .  .  And  themperour 

is  Palace  of  Pleasure,  Vol.  I. 


76  FROISSABT   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

gaue  commyssion  to  four  knyghts,  and  to  tuo  doctours  of  his 
counsell,  to  make  kyng  Edwarde  of  Englande  his  vycarre  generall 
throughout  all  the  empyre.  And  thereof  these  sayd  lordes  hadde 
instrumentes  publyke:  confyrmed  and  sealed  sufficiently  by  the 
emperour." 

The  remaining  lines  39-199  of  scene  2,  Act  II,  contain  the 
above-mentioned  dagger  episode,  derived  from  Painter.  In 
addition  to  several  other  parts  of  Painter's  story,  which 
the  dramatist  ignored,  is  the  conclusion  portraying  the 
marriage  of  the  King  and  the  Countess.  Edward's  depar- 
ture for  the  wars,  as  described  by  Froissart,  therefore,  is 
the  ending  which  the  dramatist  employed. 

Ber.,  Chap.  77.  "  Than  he  took  leaue  of  the  lady,  sayeing  my 
dere  lady  to  god  I  comende  you  tyll  I  returne  agayne:  Noble 
prince  quoth  the  lady :  god  ye  father  glorious  be  your  coduct,  and 
put  you  out  of  all  vylayne  thoughts  sir  I  am  &  euer  shalbe  redy 
to  do  your  grace  seruyce  to  your  honour  and  to  myne,  therwith 
the  kyng  depted."  (Chap.  50)  "Now  ...  ye  kyng  of  England 
.  .  .  was  on  ye  see  to  the  intent  to  arryue  in  Flaunders  and  so 
into  Heynalt  to  make  ware  agaynst  the  frechmen." 

Before  leaving  the  story  of  King  Edward's  love  for  the 
Countess  as  given  by  Lord  Berners,  we  shall  find  it  well  to 
consider  the  theories  of  authorship  that  have  been  advanced 
for  the  play  on  account  of  this  episode.  Since  the  love 
affair  is  highly  colored  and  seems  to  interrupt  the  main 
course  of  Edward's  wars  against  the  Scots  and  French, 
many  critics  have  asserted  that  it  must,  therefore,  be  a  later 
interpolation  thrust  into  the  play  by  some  dramatist  of 
remarkable  ability.  These  critics  with  their  various  theo- 
ries may  conveniently  be  placed  in  three  classes : 

1.  Those  who  believe  that  Shakespeare  wrote  the  entire 
play.  To  this  class  belong  Tieck,  Capell,  Collier,  Teetgen, 
Ulrici10  and  Hopkinson — none  of  whom  offer  reasons  other 

!0  Ulrici  retracted  this  opinion  after  reading  the  play  in  an  Eng- 
lish version. 


THE    STORY   OP   EDWARD   III  77 

than  conjectural  in  support  of  Shakespeare's  authorship; 
and  these  in  absence  of  other  evidence  are  untrustworthy. 

2.  Those  believing  that  an  early  play,  Edward  III,  was 
revised  by  Shakespeare  who  added  the  Countess  episode; 
or  that  Shakespeare  at  least  had  a  hand  in  the  play.  To 
this  class  belong  Tyrell,  Von  Vincke,  Hallilwell-Phillips, 
Tennyson,  Fleay,  Ward,  Brandes,  G.  C.  Moore-Smith  and 
Schelling. 

Fleay  is  the  only  member  of  this  second  class  to  offer  evi- 
dence of  Shakespeare's  authorship.  He  has  constructed 
with  his  customary  ingenuity  the  following  bit  of  external 
evidence.  Edward  III  he  says  was  written  by  Marlowe 
about  1589,  and  was  acted  in  1590; — dates  however  which 
are  purely  conjectural,  but  reasonable  guesses.  He  next 
states  that  the  play  was  revised  by  Shakespeare '  who  in- 
serted the  Countess  episode,  and  was  acted  in  this  form  by 
Lord  Strange 's  men  in  1594  after  May  9.11  This  date  Fleay 
endeavors  to  establish  by  quoting  three  coincidences  be- 
tween lines  of  the  play  and  other  lines  of  Shakespeare's 
known  work:  (1)  The  phrase  " their  scarlet  ornaments" 
which  occurs  in  II,  1,  10,  and  in  Shakespeare's  sonnet  142, 
line  6;  (2)  the  line  "Lillies  that  fester  smell  far  worse  than 
weeds,"  appearing  in  II,  1,  451  and  in  Shakespeare's  son- 
net 94,  line  14.  As  the  sonnets  were  at  that  date  (1594) 
still  unpublished,  Fleay  argues  that  only  Shakespeare  could 
have  made  these  repetitions.  But  Meres  states  in  his  Pal- 
ladis  Tamia  (1598)  that  Shakespeare's  "sugred  Sonnets" 
had  been  circulated  "among  his  private  friends,"  and  this 
fact  renders  such  evidence  untrustworthy.  That  the  date 
of  the  play  must  have  been  after  May  9  in  1594,  he  main- 
tains by  the  third  coincidence,  namely  the  following  allusion 
in  Act  II,  Sc.  2,  194-197  to  Shakespeare's  "Rape  of  Lu- 
crece,"  which  was  entered  in  the  S.  R.  on  that  day: 

ii  Life  of  Shakespeare,  pp.  119-120. 


78  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

"Arise,  true  English  Ladie;  whom  our  He 
May  better  boast  than  ever  Romaine  might 
Of  her,  whose  ransact  treasurie  hath  taskt 
The  vaine  indeavor  of  so  many  pens." 

The  four  lines  quoted  may,  or  may  not  refer  to  Shake- 
speare 's  Lucrece ;  Shakespeare  may,  or  may  not  have  called 
his  work  the  vain  endeavor  of  his  pen.  Such  vague  external 
evidence  can  hardly  be  considered  as  proof  either  of  the 
date,  or  of  the  revision  of  an  old  version  of  the  play. 

For  proof  of  the  existence  of  an  old  version  of  Edward 
III  written  by  Marlowe,  Fleay  offers  the  following  argu- 
ment: 

"  In  the  Address  prefixed  to  Greene's  Menaphon,  in  a  passage 
in  which  Nash  has  been  satirising  Kyd  and  another  as  void  of 
scholarship  and  unable  to  read  Seneca  in  the  original,  he  suddenly 
attacks  Marlowe,  whom  he  has  previously  held  up  as  the  object 
of  their  imitation  and  asks  what  they  can  have  of  him?  In 
Nash's  own  words,  'what  can  be  hoped  of  those  that  thrust  Ely- 
sium into  Hell  and  have  not  learned,  so  long  as  they  have  lived 
in  the  spheres,  the  just  measure  of  the  Horizon  without  an 
hexameter?'  Marlowe  in  I  Tamburlaine  v.  2  has  confounded 
Hell  in  Elysium,  and  in  Edward  III  horizon  is  pronounced 
horizon.  .  .  ." 

But  Mr.  F.  S.  Boas  has  shown12  that  this  satirical  passage 
applies  throughout  to  Kyd  (not  in  the  least  to  Marlowe), 
because  the  references  of  "thrusting  Elysium  into  Hell" 
and  "the  just  measure  of  Horizon  without  an  hexameter'' 
refer  to  Kyd 's  adaptation  from  Virgil  of  the  description  of 
the  lower  world  for  his  Spanish  Tragedy. 

To  quote  another  of  Fleay 's  passages  in  support  of  Mar- 
lowe 's  authorship : 

"In   Greene's  Never  Too  Late  we  find   Tully   addressing  the 
player  Roscius,  who  certainly  represents  R.  Wilson,  in  the  words : 
12  Introduction  to  Edition  of  Kyd,  XXIX. 


THE    STORY  OF  EDWARD   in  79 

1  Why,  Roscius,  are  thou  proud  with  Aesop's  crow,  being  pranked 
with  the  glory  of  other's  feathers?  Of  thyself  thou  canst  say 
nothing :  and  if  the  Cobbler  hath  taught  thee  to  say  '  Ave  Caesar/ 
disdain  not  thy  tutor  because  thou  pratest  in  a  King's  chamber.' 
Unless  another  play  can  be  produced  with  'Ave  Caesar'  in  it, 
this  must  be  held  to  allude  to  Edward  III.,  in  which  play  Wilson 
must  have  acted  the  Prince  of  Wales  (Act  I,  1,  164).  The 
'  Cobbler '  alludes  to  Marlowe  as  a  Shoemaker's  son." 

This  evidence  is  too  indefinite  to  be  given  great  weight, 
because  it  is  based  upon  three  suppositions : 

1.  That  "Ave  Caesar"  occurs  in  no  other  play. 

2.  That  Roscius  is  R.  Wilson. 

3.  That  the  cobbler  refers  to  Marlowe.  Granted  that 
Roscius  is  R.  Wilson,  is  it  not  more  likely  that  the  Cobbler 
refers  to  Wilson's  Cobbler's  Prophecy  (before  1593,  1594) 
rather  than  to  Marlowe? 

To  support  his  theory  that  Shakespeare  added  the  Coun- 
tess episode  (1,  2,  90;  II)13  Fleay  offers  the  following 
word  and  metrical  tests :  In  this  episode  the  proportion  of 
rhyme  lines  to  verse  lines  is  one  to  seven ;  in  other  parts  of 
the  play  one  to  twenty; — in  the  episode,  the  proportion  of 
lines  with  double  endings  to  verse  lines  is  one  to  ten,  in  the 
rest  of  the  play  it  is  one  to  twenty-five.  The  following 
table  taken  from  Warnke  and  Proescholdt 's  discussion  of 
this  question  shows  that  this  test  is  insufficient : 

As  these  editors  state,  it  is  true  that,  as  Fleay  contends, 
"the  total  sum  of  rhymes  is  greater  in  the  episode  than  in 
the  principal  play.  (Proportion  of  .verse  lines  to  rhyme 
lines  in  the  episode  one  to  nine,  in  the  other  parts  of  the 
play  one  to  twenty. )  But  at  the  same  time  we  find  that  com- 
paratively speaking  some  scenes  of  the  principal  play  are 
almost  as  rich  in  rhymes  as  the  episode  (I,  1 ;  IV,  5  and  9) 
and  what  is  more  surprising,  that  the  supposed  author  of  the 

is  Shakespeare  Manual,  pp.  303-306. 


80  FROISSART  AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 


Act  and  Scene 
I     1 

Verse  Line* 
169 

Rhyme  Lines 
10 

Lines  with  Double 
Endings 

6 

11 

2 

1 

2 

166 
459 
212 

50 
36 

8 

fi  1  Countess 
2    [Episode. 

III 

1 

189 

10 

3 

III 

2 

75 

6 

3 

III 

3 

228 

6 

5 

III 

4 

13 

1 

— 

III 

5 

115 

2 

1 

IV 

1 

43 

— 

6 

IV 

2 

85 

4 

4 

IV 

3 

85 

2 

6 

IV 

4 

161 

2 

15 

IV 

5 

127 

10 

9 

IV 

6 

17 

1 

1 

IV 

7 

35 

— 

5 

IV 

8 

10 

1 

1 

IV 

9 

64 

8 

3 

V 

243 

4 

4 

episode  whilst  studying  I,  2  and  II,  1  with  a  great  number  of 
rhymes,  should  have  all  but  rejected  rhyme  lines  in  II,  2, 
which  has  8  rhyme  lines  in  212  verse  lines ;  whereas  the  next 
following  scene  II,  1  exhibits  ten  rhymes  in  189  verse  lines. 
The  most  surprising  figure  in  the  rhyme  test  is  I,  2  (50 
rhyme  lines;  166  verse  lines)  and  this  figure  will  easily  be 
accounted  for,  if  we  remember  that  the  last  part  of  the  scene 
in  which  the  Countess  engages  the  King  to  stay  at  her  castle 
is  wholly  written  in  rhyme  lines. 

* '  Almost  the  same  remarks  apply  to  the  lines  with  double 
endings.  They  are  more  frequent  in  the  episode  (88),  but 
they  are  by  no  means  wanting  in  the  rest  of  the  play  (72). 
So  IV,  5  is  as  rich  in  lines  with  double  endings  as  I,  2  and 
IV,  4  is  as  rich  as  II,  2." 

Moreover,  the  word  test  proves  as  insufficient.  Fleay's 
word  test  consists  of  " horizon "    (Act  V,   Sc.  1)  ;  "Ave 


THE   STORY  OF  EDWARD  III  81 

Caesar"  (Act  I,  Sc.  1);  ' ' whinyards "  (Act  1,  Sc.  2); 
"Bayard"  (Act  III,  Sc.  1)  ;  "Nemesis"  (Act  III,  Sc.  1) ; 
"Martialist"  (Act  III,  Sc.  3);  "plate,"  in  the  Spanish 
sense  of  silver  (Act  I,  Sc.  2;  Act  IV,  Sc.  4)  ;  "solitariness" 
(Act  III,  Sc.  2) ;  "quadrant"  (Act  V,  Sc.  7) ;  "Ure"  (Act 
I,  Sc.  1),  all  words  foreign  to  Shakespeare's  vocabulary. 

If  Fleay,  as  Warnke  and  Proescholdt  show,  had  applied 
his  test  to  the  Countess  scenes  themselves,  he  would  have 
found  many  words  such  as  "decline"  (I,  2,  104);  "ori- 
ental" (II,  1,  11)  ;  "persuasive"  (II,  1,  54)  ;  "to  sot"  (II, 
1,  81)  ;  "to  fly"  (transitive)  (II,  1,  87) ;  "summer-leaking" 
(II,  1,  107)  ;  "Flankers"  (II,  1,  185)  and  others  such  as 
"wantonness"  that  are  equally  un-Shakespearian. 

In  spite  of  these  unreliable  evidences  of  double  author- 
ship, the  theory  has  been  recently  advanced  on  a  little 
different  ground  by  F.  W.  Moorman  in  the  Cambridge  His- 
tory of  Literature.  He  does  not,  like  previous  critics,  be- 
lieve the  Countess  episode  to  be  "  extraneous  matter  foisted 
into  the  play,"  but  thinks  that  "on  other  and  more  sub- 
stantial grounds ' '  Shakespeare 's  revision  of  it  must  still  be 
held.  As  evidence,  however,  he  accepts  Fleay 's  erroneous 
word  and  metrical  tests,  then  assumes  by  conjecture  the 
existence  of  a  pre-Edward  III  play.  After  wavering  be- 
tween collaboration  and  revision,  he  finally  states  his  belief 
that  because  the  countess  episode  is  so  much  superior  in 
character  and  in  general  treatment  to  the  rest  of  the  play, 
Shakespeare  must  have  withdrawn  entirely  the  old  render- 
ing of  it  and  substituted  the  "pearl  of  great  price  which 
now  lies  embedded  in  the  old  chronicle  play. ' ' 

3.  The  third  theory  of  authorship  maintains  that  Shake- 
speare had  nothing  to  do  with  the  play.  To  this  class  belong 
Stevens,  Delius,  Knight,  Von  Friesen,  Warnke  and  Proe- 
scholdt, Liebau,  Furnivall,  Symonds,  Saintsbury,  Swin- 
burne, Rolfe  and  Tucker-Brooke.  These  critics  believe  that 
7 


82  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

the  play  as  a  whole  has  never  been  authoritatively  attributed 
to  Shakespeare  and  is  by  no  means  up  to  his  level ;  there  is 
an  absence  of  comedy,  and  a  general  lack  of  characteriza- 
tion— all  the  characters,  high  and  low,  from  the  countrymen 
and  citizens  to  the  King  and  Countess,  speak  the  same  stilted 
Marlowesque  eloquence — nor  is  the  episode  so  supremely 
elevated  and  excellent  as  to  seem  out  of  keeping  with  the 
rest  of  the  play. 

An  additional  argument  against  the  double  authorship 
theory  is  disclosed  by  reviewing  the  Countess  episode  as  it 
stands  in  relation  to  the  sources  from  which  the  play  was 
derived,  for  a  comparison  seems  to  demonstrate  that  the 
drama  was  written  by  a  single  author.  As  has  already  been 
stated,  the  source  of  three  acts  of  the  play  is  derived  not 
from  Holinshed,  but  from  Berners'  Froissart.  A  later 
dramatist  then  did  not,  as  has  been  contended,  take  the 
whole  Countess  episode  of  Painter  and  thrust  it  into  an 
earlier  Edward  III.  The  author  finding  the  Countess  epi- 
sode in  the  same  position  in  Froissart 's  history  that  the 
dramatic  version  now  holds  in  the  play,  merely  followed 
the  order  of  events  that  Froissart  had  prescribed.  To  fill 
out  the  episode,  however,  the  writer  selected  from  Painter 
the  few  details  that  make  up  the  first  scene  of  the  second 
act  and  heighten  its  dramatic  effectiveness.  To  render  this 
fusion  of  Froissart  and  Painter 's  versions  of  the  story 
clear  and  explicit  in  their  relation  to  the  drama,  the  follow- 
ing table  is  appended. 


THE   STORY   OF  EDWARD   in 


83 


COUNTESS  EPISODE 

(not  found  in  Holinshed) 

Act  I,  Sc.  2,  lines  120  to  Act  III 

Froissart  (1373) 


Berners'  Froissart,  1523-25. 

Act  I,  Sc.  1 
n*     i;„«a     ioi    rsir  William 

?r,  Chap.   76,   *£  <*£^ 
'*•  [etc. 

lines  1SJ ^IB^Eo^oul 
Ber.  I,  Chap.    J  f Qrd  in  Brit. 

68'  Ltayne. 


Bandello,  1554 


Boisteau,  1559 


Painter,  1567 


lines  135-169, 
Ber.  I,  Chap. 
52. 


lines   1-18, 
Ber.  I,  Chap. 
76. 


lines   18-39, 
Ber.  I,  Chap. 
33. 


lines  40-93, 
Ber.  I,  Chap. 

77. 


lines   94-166, 
Ber.  I,  Chap. 

77. 


line  132,  Warwick  as  father  of 
the  Countess  (Painter,  Vol.  I,  p. 
342). 


'Expeditions    of 
embassies  and 
the  gathering 
.of  allies. 

Act  I,  Sc. 

"Siege  of  the 
Castle  of  Salis- 
bury by  the 
Scots   under 
King  David   at 

^Koxborough. 

r  League  of 
France   and 
Scotland. 

r Flight  of  the 
Scots  at  the 
I  arrival  of  Ed- 
Lward. 

Meeting  of 
King  Edward 
and  the  Count- 
ess of  Salis- 
bury. 


84 


FROISSART  AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 


Act  II,  Sc.  1 

lines  1-183,  I,  /^"f  ^  a 
343-34  1  letter  to  tne 

[Countess. 

f  Meeting  of 
lines  183-292,  IJ  King  Edward 
238,  342.  ]  and  the  Count- 

less. 

TThe  King  con- 
lines  293-346,  IJ  fers  with  War- 
344-353.  J  wick,  father  of 

Lthe  Countess. 

linp,  347-450  T  f  Conference  of 
3531355  '  N  Warwick  and 

this  daughter. 
Act  II,  Sc.  2 


lines   1-38,  f  Emperor  of  Al- 

Ber.  I,  Chap.    \  maigne   joins 


32. 


lines  200-211, 
Ber.  I,  Chap. 
67. 


[King  Edward. 

r  Countess  re- 
mains a  true 
wife  and  re- 
pulses the 
King 's    suit. 
King  Edward 
returns  to  war. 


lines  39-199,  I, 
359-362. 


'Feigned  con- 
sent of  the 
Countess  and 
the  following 
1 '  dagger ' ' 
scene. 


According  to  Painter's  version,  King  Edward,  over- 
whelmed with  admiration  for  the  Countess  immediately 
proposes  honorable  marriage,  and  the  story  closes  with 
the  tinkling  of  marriage  bells.  The  playwright,  however, 
rejected  this  perversion  of  history  for  which  Bandello  was 
originally  responsible,  and  adopted  Froissart's  account  of 
Edward's  return  to  battle. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  in  view  of  this  complicated  fusion 
of  Froissart  and  Painter  that  the  double  authorship  theory 
has  a  valid  argument  in  its  favor.  It  seems  very  improbable 
that  Shakespeare,  as  Fleay  states,  or  any  other  dramatist 
could  have  inserted  the  Countess  episode  into  an  old  Edward 
III  play;  nor  have  we  any  evidence  for  collaboration  or 


THE    STORY   OF   EDWARD   in  85 

revision.  The  quotations  from  the  sources  seem  to  prove 
that  the  entire  play  was  written  by  a  single  author  at  one 
time.  Further  evidence  supporting  this  opinion  and 
ruining  Moorman's  revision  theory  is  found  in  two  pass- 
ages in  Act  III  which  refer  to  the  love  story  of  the  first  two 
acts.  If  a  second  playwright  added,  or  revised  the  Countess 
story,  then  he  also  must  have  inserted  these  lines  in  Act  III. 

Act  III,  Sc.  3,  155-7. 

"  For  what's  his  Edward  but  a  belly  god 
A  tender  and  laseiuious  wantoness 
That  thother  daie  was  almost  dead  for  love?" 

Act  III,  Sc.  5,  100-3. 

"  Now  John  of  France  I  hope, 
Thou  knowest  King  Edward  for  no  wantonesse 
No  love  sick  cockney.  .  .  ." 

As  far  as  the  question  of  authorhip  is  concerned,  Edward 
III  has  never  been  attributed  to  Shakespeare  except  on  con- 
jectural grounds ;  and  no  reliable  external,  or  internal  evi- 
dence has  been  discovered  to  support  such  a  view.  Finally, 
as  the  author  of  Edward  II  derived  his  story  from  Frois- 
sart,  not  from  Holinshed,  it  is  likely  that  Shakespeare  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  play,  for,  so  far  as  is  known,  Shake- 
speare never  consulted  Froissart  for  chronicle  history. 

Act  III 

King  John  of  France  welcomes  his  ally,  the  King  of 
Bohemia.  A  mariner  describes  the  sea  fight  at  Sluys.  De- 
fiant meeting  of  English  and  French  forces.  Knighting  of 
the  Black  Prince,  and  his  feats  of  valor  in  the  ensuing 
battles. 

Scene  One. 

(1.  1-61)  (Ber.  Chap.  123.)  The  french  kyng  ...  had  sent 
letters  to  his  frendes  in  thempyre,  to  such  as  wer  farthest  of,  and 


86  PROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

also  to  the  gentyll  kyng  of  Behayne,"  (chap.  125)  "and  at  saynt 
Deuyse  were  redy  coe  the  kynge  of  Behayne  .  .  .  the  duke  of 
Larayne,  .  .  .  and  many  other  great  lordes  and  knyghtes,  redy  to 
serve  the  frenche  kynge." 

Ber.,  50.  This  chapter  contains  a  detailed  account  of  the  battle 
of  Sluys.     (cf.  1.  6-189.) 

Scene  Two. 

(1.  45-76)  {Ber.  Chap.  122.)  "and  also  he  ordayned  thre 
batyls,  one  to  go  on  his  right  hande,  closyng  to  the  see  syde  and 
the  other  on  his  lyfte  hande,  and  the  kynge  hymselfe  in  the 
myddes,  .  .  .  Thus  they  sette  forth  ...  in  this  manner  they  brent 
many  other  townes  in  that  country." 

Scene  Three. 

(1.  1-10)  (Ber.  Chap.  126.)  ".  .  .  therwas  avarlet  called  Gobyn 
a  Grace,  who  stept  f orthe  and  sayde  to  the  kyng,  sir,  I  promyse 
you  on  the  ieopardy  of  my  head,  I  shall  bringe  you  to  suche  a 
place  where  as  ye  and  all  your  hoost  shall  passe  the  ruyer  of 
Some  without  paryll,  .  .  ."  (Chap.  127)  "The  kynge  of  Eng- 
lande  whan  he  was  past  the  ruyer  .  .  .  called  Gobyn  a  Grace, 
and  dyd  quyte  hym  his  ransome  .  .  .  and  gaue  hym  a  hundred 
nobles  and  a  good  horse." 

(1.  18-45)  (Ber.  Chap.  122.)  ".  .  .  after  the  towne  of  Harflewe 
was  thus  taken  and  robbed  without  brennyng  .  .  .  they  came  to  a 
great  towne  well  closed,  called  Quaretyne."  (Carentigne)  Lowe 
and  other  cities  are  plundered  in  this  chapter. 

Scene  Four. 

Ber.  Chap.  130.  "  Of  the  batayle  of  Cressy  bytwene  the  kyng 
of  England  the  french  kyng  .  .  .  there  were  of  the  genowayes  cros- 
bowes,  about  a  fif  tene  thousand,  but  they  were  so  wery  of  goyng 
a  fote  that  day  .  .  .  whan  the  genowayes  felte  the  arowes  .  .  . 
many  of  them  cast  downe  their  crosbowes,  and  dyde  cutte  their 
strynges  and  retourned  dysconfited." 

Scene  Five. 

(1.  1-60)  (Ber.  Chap.  130.)  ".  .  .  and  they  .  .  .  sent  a  messan- 
ger  to  the  kynge,  who  was  on  a  lytell  wyndmyll  hyll;  than  the 


THE    STORY   OF   EDWARD  in  87 

knyght  sayd  to  the  kyng,  sir,  therle  of  Warwyke,  .  .  .  and  other, 
suche  as  be  about  the  prince  your  sonne,  are  feersly  fought  with 
all, . . .  wherf  ore  they  desyre  you,  that  you  and  your  batayle  wolle 
come  and  ayde  them,  for  if  the  frenchmen  encrease,  .  .  .  your 
sonne  and  they  shall  haue  moche  ado.  Than  the  kynge  sayde, 
is  my  sonne  deed  or  hurt,  or  on  the  yerthe  felled;  no  sir,  quoth 
the  knyght,  but  he  is  hardely  matched,  wherfore  he  hathe  nede 
of  your  ayde.  Well,  sayde  the  kyng,  retourne  to  him  and  to 
them  that  sent  you  hyther,  and  say  to  them,  that  they  sende  no 
more  to  me  for  any  aduenture  that  falleth,  as  long  as  my  soone 
is  alyue;  and  also  say  to  the,  that  they  they  suffre  hym  this  day 
to  wynne  his  spurres." 

(1.  61-86)  (Ber.  Chap.  131.)  ".  .  .  than  he  went  with  all  his 
batayle  to  his  sonne  the  prince,  and  enbrased  hym  in  his  armes, 
and  kyst  hym  .  .  .:  the  prince  inclyned  himself e  to  the  yerthe, 
honouryng  the  kyng  his  father." 

(1.  95-114)  (Ber.  Chap.  131.)  ".  .  .:  they  made  iust  report  of 
that  they  had  sens,  and  sayde,  howe  ther  were  XI  great  princes 
deed,  fourscore  baners,  XII  C.  knightes  and  mo  than  XXX. 
thousande  other." 

Act  IV 

Villiers-Salisoury  episode.  King  Edward  receives  beg- 
gars from  Calais.  News  arrives  that  David  of  Scotland  is 
a  prisoner  of  the  Queen  of  England.  Battle  of  Poitiers. 
Victory  of  the  Black  Prince. 

T/-77-       or*  fsc-  *>  19"143 

Vilhers- Salisbury  .    ,  __.         0 '       KO 

^    .     .,         *  Act  IV«sc.  3,  1-56 

Epis0de  [sc.  5,  55-126 

Warnke  and  Proescholdt  found  no  source  for  the  Vil- 
liers-Salisbury  episode  in  Holinshed.  G.  Liebau  and  C.  F. 
Tucker-Brooke  state  that  it  is  found  neither  in  Holinshed, 
nor  in  Froissart.  The  following  quotation  from  Berners, 
chapter  135,  however,  gives  the  complete  story,  overlooked 
before  because  the  names  Gaultier  of  Manny  and  a  knight 


88  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

of  Normandy  were  changed  in  the  play  to  Salisbury  and 
Villiers  respectively. 

"  It  was  nat  long  after,  but  that  Sir  Gaultier  of  Many  fell  in 
communycation  with  a  Knyght  of  Normandy  who  was  his  pris- 
oner, and  demaunded  of  hym  what  money  he  wolde  pay  for  his 
ransome;  the  Knight  answered  and  sayd,  he  wolde  gladly  pay 
three  M  crownes;  well  quoth  the  lorde  Gaultyer.  I  knowe  well 
ye  be  kynne  to  the  Duke  of  Normandy,  and  well  beloved  with 
him,  that  I  am  sure,  and  if  I  would  sore  oppresse  you,  I  am  sure 
ye  wolde  gladly  pay  X  thousand  crownes,  but  I  shall  deale  other- 
wyse  with  you.  Woll  trust  you  on  your  faythe  and  promise;  ye 
shall  go  to  the  duke  your  lorde,  and  by  your  means  gette  a  save 
conduct  for  me,  and  XX  other  of  my  copany  to  ryde  through 
France  to  Calys,  payeng  curtesly  for  all  our  expenses;  and  if  you 
can  get  this  of  the  duke,  or  the  Kynge  my  maister,  nor  I  wyll  lye 
but  one  nyght  in  a  place,  tyll  I  coe  there;  and  if  ye  can  nat  do 
this,  retourne  agyn  hyder  within  a  moneth  and  yelde  yourseld  styll 
as  my  prisoner.  .  .  .  The  Knyght  was  content,  and  so  went  to 
Paris  to  the  duke  his  lorde,  and  he  obtayned  this  passport  for  sir 
Gaultier  of  Manny  and  XX  horse  with  hin  all  onely  .  .  .  and  ther 
he  quyted  the  Knyght  Norman  of  his  ransome.  Than  anone  after, 
sir  Gaultier  toke  his  way,  and  XX  horse  with  hym,  and  so  rode 
through  Auuergne  and  whan  he  taryed  in  any  place,  he  shewed 
his  letter,  and  so  was  lette  passe,  but  whan  he  came  to  Orleaunce 
for  all  his  letter,  he  was  arrested,  and  brought  to  Parys,  and  there 
put  in  prison  in  the  Chatlet;  whan  the  duke  of  Normandy  knewe 
thereof,  he  went  to  the  Kynge  his  father,  and  shewed  him  how  sir 
Gaultier  of  Normandy  had  his  save  conduct  wherefore  he  requyred 
the  Kynge,  as  moche  as  he  might,  to  delyuer  him,  or  else  it  shulde 
be  sayd,  howe  he  had  betrayd  hym :  the  King  answered  and  sayd, 
howe  he  shulde  be  put  to  dethe,  for  he  reputed  hym  for  his  great 
enemy;  than  sayd  the  duke,  sir  if  ye  do  so,  surely  I  shall  neuer 
bere  armour  agaynst  the  Kynge  of  Englande  nor  all  such  as  I  may 
let;  and  at  his  departyne,  he  sayd,  that  he  wolde  never  entre 
agayn  into  the  Kynges  host ;  thus  the  mater  stode  a  certayne  tyme. 
There  was  a  Knyght  of  Heynalt  called  Sir  Mansart  de  Sue;  he 


THE    STORY   OF   EDWARD  III  89 

purchased  all  that  he  myght  to  helpe  Sir  Walter  of  Manny,  and 
went  often  in  and  out  to  the  duke  of  Normandy ;  finally  the  Kynge 
was  so  counselled,  that  he  was  delyuered  out  of  prison  and  all  his 
cost  payd — Thane  he  (Sir  Walter)  toke  his  leaue  and  departed, 
and  rode  so  long  by  his  journeys  that  he  came  into  Heynalt  and — 
so  from  thens  he  went  to  Cales,  and  was  welcome  to  the  Kynge." 

Scene  Two. 

(1.  7-35)  (Ber.  Chap.  133.)  "  Howe  the  kyngof  Englande  layd 
siege  to  Calys  and  howe  all  the  poore  people  were  put  out  of  the 
towne."  "  Whan  the  capten  of  Calys  sawe  that  maner  of  thorder 
of  thegleyssh  men:  than  he  constrayned  all  poore  &  meane  peple 
to  issue  out  of  the  towne  .  .  .  and  as  they  passed  through  ye 
hoost  they  were  demaunded  why  they  depted  &  they  .  .  .  sayde 
bycause  they  had  nothyng  to  lyue  on.  Than  the  kyng  dyd  them 
that  grace  .  .  and  gaue  them  mete  and  drinke  to  dyner  and  euery 
pson  ii  d  sterlyng  almes.  .  .  ." 

(1.  36-60)  (Ber.  Chap.  139.)  "When  the  quene  of  Englande  .  . . 
it  was  shewed  her  howe  the  kyng  of  scotts  was  taken  by  a  squyer 
called  John  Coplande.  .  .  .  Than  the  quene  wrote  to  the  squyer 
comaundyng  hym  to  bring  his  prisoner  .  .  .  Johan  Coplande  .  .  . 
answered  and  sayd,  that  as  for  the  kyng  of  scottes  his  prisoner  he 
wolde  not  delyuer  hym  to  no  ma  nor  woman  lyueing,  but  all  onely 
to  the  kynge  of  Englande  his  soueragne  lorde.  .  .  .  Than  the 
kyng  sende  incotynent  to  Johan  Coplande,  that  he  shulde  come 
ouer  the  see  to  hym  to  the  siege  before  Calays." 

(1.  61-85)  (Ber.  Chap.  146.)  "Than  the  kynge  sayde  ...  sir 
Gaultyer  of  Manny  ye  shall  goo  and  say  to  the  capytayne  .  .  . 
that  they  lette  sixe  of  the  chiefe  burgesses  of  the  Towne  come  out 
bare  heeded,  bare  foted,  and  bare  legged,  and  in  their  shertes  with 
haulters  about  their  neckes,  with  the  keyes  of  the  towne  and  castell 
in  their  handes,  and  lette  theym  sixe  yelde  themselfe  to  my  wyll." 
Scene  Four. 

Ber.  Chap.,  161.  "  That  sonday  all  the  day  of  cardynall  traueyled 
in  ridynge  fro  the  one  hoose  to  the  other  gladly  to  agree  them ;  but 
the  frenche  kynge  wolde  nat  agree  without  he  myght  haue  foure 
of  the  princypallist  of  the  englysshmen  at  his  pleasure,  and  the 


90  FROISSAET   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

prince  and  all  the  other  to  yelde  themselfe  simply,  howe  beit 
there  were  many  great  offers  made  .  .  .  the  uttermost  that  he  (the 
French  king)  wolde  do  was  that  the  prince  and  a  C.  of  his 
knyghtes  shoude  yelde  them  selfe  into  the  kynges  prison,  other- 
wyse  he  wolde  nat;  the  whiche  the  prince  wolde  in  no  wyse 
agre  unto." 

Scene  Five. 

(1.  1-55)  (Ber.  Chap.  130.)  "Also  the  same  reason  there  fell  a 
great  rayne  and  a  clyps,  with  a  terryble  thouder,  and  before  the 
rayne  there  came  fleyng  ouer  bothe  batayls  a  great  nombre  of 
crowes,  for  feare  of  the  tempest  comynge.  Than  anone  the  eyre 
beganne  to  wave  clere,  and  the  sonne  to  shyne  fayre  and  bright; 
the  which  was  right  in  the  frenchmens  eyen,  and  on  the  englyssh- 
mens  backes." 

Scene  Six. 

Ber.,  162.     "  The  lorde  James  Audeley  .  .  .  was  in  the  front 
of  that  batell  and  there  dyd  maruels  in  armes." 
Scene  Seven. 

Ber.,  162.  "  On  the  frenche  partie  kynge  Johan  was  that  day 
a  full  right  good  knyght;  if  the  fourth  part  of  his  menne  hadde 
done  their  deuoyers  as  well  as  he  dydde,  the  journey  hadde  bene 
his,  by  all  lykelyhode.  Howe  be  it  they  were  all  slayne  and 
takenne  that  were  there;  exeepte  a  fewe  that  saued  themselfe  that 
were  with  the  kynge." 

Scene  Eight. 

Ber.,  165.  "  than  the  prince  demaunded  of  the  knyghtes  that 
were  aboute  hym  for  the  lord  Audeley  yf  any  knewe  any  thing  of 
hym.  Some  knygtes  .  .  .  answer  ...  sir  he  is  sore  hurt  and 
lyeth  in  a  lytter  here  besyde.  .  .  ." 

Scene  Nine. 

(1.  1-17)  {Ber.  Chap.  164.)  "Howe  kyng  John  was  taken  pris- 
oner at  the  batayle  of  Poycters." 

(1.  18-64)  {Ber.  Chap.  165.)  "  than  he  (the  prince)  called  eyght 
of  his  seruantes,  and  caused  them  to  bere  hym  (Audeley)  in  his 
lytter  to  the  place  were  as  the  prince  was.     Than  the  prince  tooke 


THE    STORY   OF   EDWARD   III  91 

hym  in  his  armes  and  kyst  hym  and  made  hym  great  ehere  (and 
sayd)  sir  James  ...  to  thyntent  to  furnysshe  you  the  better 
to  pursue  ye  warres  I  retayne  you  for  euer  to  be  my  knight  with 
fyue  hundred  markes  of  yerely  reuenewes.  .  .  ."  Chap.  167. 
"  Whan  sir  James  Audeley  was  brought  to  his  logynge,  ...  he 
sayd  to  the  sayd  lordes,  sirs  it  hath  pleased  me  lorde  the  prince  to 
gyue  me  fyue  hundred  markes  of  reuenewes.  .  .  .  Sirs  beholde 
here  these  foure  squyers  ...  I  gye  and  resigne  into  their  handes 
the  gyft  ...  of  fyue  hundred  markes  ...  to  them  and  to  their 
heyres  foreuer." 

Act  V 

Citizens  from  Calais  come  to  Edward  to  sue  for  peace.  John 
Copeland,  obeying  Edward's  order,  comes  to  France  with  his 
prisoner,  David,  King  of  Scotland.  The  Black  Prince  embarks 
for  England  with  King  John  of  France  as  captive. 

(1.1-5;  64^96)  (Ber.  Chap.  139.)  "...  than  the  same  John  ( Cop- 
lande)  dyd  putte  his  prisoner  in  saue  kepynge,  in  a  stronge  cas- 
tell,  and  so  rode  through  England,  tyll  he  cae  to  Douer,  and  there 
toke  the  see  and  arryued  before  Calays.  Whan  the  kyng  of  Eng- 
lande  sawe  the  squyer,  he  toke  hym  by  the  hande,  and  sayde  .  .  . : 
ye  shall  retourne  agayne  home  ...  and  thane  my  pleasure  is, 
that  (ye)  delyuer  your  prisoner  to  ye  quene  my  wyfe,  and  in  a 
rewarde  I  assigne  you  nere  to  your  house,  .  .  .  fyue  hundred 
pounde  steryling  of  yerely  rent,  .  .  .  and  here  I  make  you  squyer 
for  my  body."  ..."  Thane  .  .  .  He  presented  the  Kyng  of 
Scottes  to  ye  quene  and  excused  hym  so  largely,  that  the  quene 
and  her  counsell  were  content.  Than  the  quene  .  .  .  tooke  the  see, 
.  .  .  arryued  before  Calays,  thre  dayes  before  the  feest  of  Al 
sayntes." 

(1.  8-63)  (Ber.  Chap.  146.)  "Thane  the  barryers  were  opyned, 
the  sixe  burgesses  went  towardes  the  kyng,  .  .  .  they  kneled 
downe,  and  helde  vp  their  handes  and  sayd  ...  we  submyt  oure 
self  clerely  into  your  wyll  and  pleasure,  to  saue  the  resydue  of 
the  people  of  Calays,  .  .  .  Sir,  we  beseche  your  grace  to  haue 
mercy  and  pytie  on  vs  through  your  hygh  nobles:  than  all  the 
erles  and  barownes  .  .  .  wept  for  pytie.    Than  (the  kyng)  com- 


92  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

auded  their  heedes  to  be  stryken  of :  than  euery  man  requyred  the 
kyng  for  mercy  but  he  wolde  here  no  ma  in  that  behalf e:  .  .  . 
Than  the  quene  .  .  .  kneled  down  and  sore  wepyng,  sayd,  a 
getyll  sir  .  .  .  now  I  hubly  requyre  you  .  .  .  for  the  love  of  me, 
yt  ye  woll  take  mercy  of  these  sixe  burgesses.  The  kyng  .  .  . 
sayd,  a  dame,  I  wolde  ye  had  ben  as  nowe  in  soe  other  place,  ye 
make  such  request  to  me  yt  I  can  nat  deny  you.  .  .  ." 

(1.  97-243)  (Ber.  Chap.  173.)  ".  .  . :  the  same  wynter  ye  prince 
of  Wales,  .  .  .  ordayned  for  shyppes,  to  conuey  the  frenche  kyng 
and  his  sonne,  and  all  other  prisoners  into  Englande." 

The  preceding  quotations  from  Froissart  provide  a  com- 
plete historical  source  for  King  Edward  III,  including 
many  essentials  that  are  wanting  in  the  chronicles  of  Graf- 
ton and  Holinshed.  In  the  second  act,  as  has  been  noted, 
the  author  of  the  play  departed  from  Froissart 's  narrative 
of  the  Countess  episode,  and  adopted  parts  of  Painter's 
Palace  of  Pleasure.  This  fact  with  other  considerations 
go  far  as  evidence  that  the  play  was  written  by  a  single 
author  at  a  single  time.  Since  the  dramatist's  departures 
from  Berners'  Froissart  are  few  and  insignificant,  we  may, 
perhaps,  be  justified  in  calling  Edward  III  a  dramatized 
and  versified  chronicle.  Finally,  certain  resemblances  in 
phraseology  would  seem  to  show  that  the  playwright  had 
the  first  volume  of  Berners '  Froissart  open  before  him  while 
writing  the  play. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  STORY  OF  KINO  RICHARD  II 

To  playwrights  who  aspired  to  write  tragedy,  the  life 
and  death  of  Richard  II  offered  a  more  fruitful  field  than 
that  of  his  grandfather,  Edward  III.  The  portrayal  on 
the  stage  of  Edward's  victories  in  the  Hundred  Years  war 
might  well  inspire  an  audience  with  renewed  patriotism  for 
England  and  St.  George,  as  Thomas  Heywood's  remark  has 
confirmed;  but  it  could  hardly  arouse  its  deeper  emotions 
of  sympathy,  pity  and  terror,  in  comparison  with  the  sad 
picture  of  the  vacillating  and  inglorious  Richard.  Per- 
haps this  is  one  reason  why  there  remain  from  the  welter 
of  historical  literature  only  one  play  on  Edward  III,  and 
three  extant  plays  and  one  epic  poem  on  the  life  of  Rich- 
ard II.  Moreover,  even  earlier  in  the  century,  before  the 
chronicle  plays,  his  tragic  fate  had  been  pictured  in  the 
Mirror  for  Magistrates. 

In  that  part  of  this  notable  work,  conducted  by  "William 
Baldwin,1  four  poems  rehearse  the  fates  of  the  four  tragic 
heroes  implicated  in  Richard's  career  and  downfall.  The 
picture  of  the  luckless  Tresilian,  one  of  Richard's  early 
notorious  favorites,  was  drawn  by  Ferrers,  who  also  por- 
trayed the  life  and  murder  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  and 
the  fate  of  his  nephew,  King  Richard;  and  Chaloner  was 
responsible  for  the  story  of  Thomas  Mowbray,  Duke  of 
Norfolk. 

Contrary  to  the  usual  custom  in  composing  historical 
poems  or  plays,  the  writers  of  this  series  make  reference  to 
1  Haslewood,  II.     London,  1870. 

93 


94  FROISSART  AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

the  sources  from  which  they  derived  their  information. 
Though  consulting  evidently  a  number  of  different  accounts, 
they  express  in  the  link  passage  connecting  the  poems  on 
NorthfolJce  and  Richard  the  following  comment : 

"  His  tragicall  example  of  all  the  company  we  liked,  howbee  it 
a  doubt  was  found  therein,  and  that  by  meanes  of  the  diversity  of 
the  chronicles;  for  whereas  Hall  (whose  chronicles  in  this  worke 
wee  chiefly  followed)  maketh  Mowbray  appellant  and  Bolinbroke 
defendant,  Fabian  reporteth  the  matter  quite  contraryly." 

A  comparison  of  the  poems  with  Fabian  and  Hall  reveals 
how  closely  the  authors  of  the  poems  followed  these  chron- 
icles: and  there  are  no  evidences  that  they  consulted  Ber- 
ners'  Froissart,  which  differs  greatly  in  detail,  and  which 
Hall  had  earlier  refused  to  make  use  of. 

When  the  London  stage  began  in  1590  to  call  for  chron- 
icle history  plays,  interest  in  Richard  II  revived.  The 
vicissitudes  of  his  reign  of  twenty-two  years,  his  final 
deposition  and  murder,  admirably  suited  the  Elizabethan 
conception  of  tragedy.  Here  was  a  youthful  king  of  weak 
will  and  poor  judgment,  but  of  good  intentions  and  at- 
tractive personality,  whose  vacillations  in  desperate  cir- 
cumstances drove  him  from  high  estate  to  ignominy,  im- 
prisonment and  death.  He  was  ever  the  victim  on  the  one 
hand  of  fawning  sycophants  and  flatterers,  and  on  the 
other,  of  seditious  relatives,  who  were  constantly  plotting 
his  ruin.  The  three  most  notable  events  of  his  reign  are 
his  courageous  dispersal  of  the  Wat  Tyler  rabble  in  the 
early  years;  his  crafty  scheme  to  dispose  of  his  dangerous 
uncle,  Thomas  of  Woodstock,  Duke  of  Gloucester;  and  his 
ignominious  deposition  and  death  by  the  contrivance  of 
his  cousin  Henry  of  Herford  (Duke  of  Lancaster,  or  Boling- 
broke).  Skillful  dramatists  of  the  eighties  or  nineties 
might  easily  make  a  play  out  of  any  one,  or  all  of  these 


THE   STORY   OF   RICHARD   II  95 

events;  and  in  the  Richard  II  literature  recorded,  hardly 
an  event  in  his  career  escaped  portrayal  by  some  poet  or 
dramatist. 

Moreover,  the  picture  of  Richard  II  given  to  the  Eliza- 
bethan public  by  means  of  these  several  versions  was  in  the 
majority  of  instances  that  which  Froissart  had  conceived 
in  his  original  and  picturesque  narratives;  and  it  is  partly 
because  of  his  effective  treatment  of  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  Wars  that  his  chronicle  was  continually  used  by 
Elizabethan  poets  and  dramatists.  In  view  of  this  fact, 
it  will  perhaps  be  well  in  preparation  for  special  treatment 
of  each  version  in  relation  with  the  chronicle,  to  enumerate 
the  extant  and  non-extant  works,  and  to  witness  the  effect 
that  the  fate  of  Richard  thus  produced  upon  the  political 
movements  of  the  time. 

At  the  Globe  Theatre,  April  30,  1611,  Dr.  Simon  Forman 
says  he  witnessed  a  play  depicting  the  Jack  Straw  Rebel- 
lion, the  conspiracy  of  the  Lords  against  Richard's  favorite, 
Duke  of  Ireland,  the  murder  of  Gloucester,  and  John  of 
Gaunt  Js  conspiracy  to  place  on  the  throne  his  son  Henry 
of  Herford.  No  play,  however,  covering  this  whole  series 
of  events  remains  extant,  but  three  plays  dealing  with  the 
episodes  separately  are  all  accessible. 

The  early  years  of  Richard  II  are  portrayed  in  the 
anonymous  Life  and  Death  of  Jack  Straw,  written  perhaps 
as  early  as  1587.  The  play,  though  crudely  constructed, 
presents  a  graphic  picture  of  the  Wat  Tyler  Rebellion  as 
the  playwright  had  read  it  in  Grafton's  chronicle.2 

A  few  years  later  another  anonymous  play  appeared 
entitled  "A  Tragedy  of  King  Richard  the  Second,  conclud- 
ing the  Murder  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  at  Calais."  This 
play  written  perhaps  in  1591  and  sometimes  called  Wood- 
stock, is  unique  in  its  daring  elevation  of  the  seditious 

2  See  Chapter  VI. 


96  FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Gloucester  to  the  role  of  popular  hero  and  tragic  victim  of 
Richard's  machinations;  in  its  deliberate  garbling  of  his- 
torical fact;  and  in  its  early  use  of  the  humane  elements 
of  history. 

The  third  play,  which  describes  the  tragic  closing  years 
of  the  unfortunate  king,  is  the  eloquent  Richard  II  of 
Shakespeare,  1595-6. 

Not  to  be  outdone  by  the  vogue  of  these  chronicle  plays, 
two  contemporary  poets,  Samuel  Daniel  and  Michael  Dray- 
ton, immediately  issued  poetical  versions  of  Richard's 
career.  In  1595,  Daniel  published  the  Civil  Wars,  which 
covered  in  Books  I-II  the  entire  reign  of  Richard;  and 
Drayton  in  his  England's  Eeroicall  Epistles  (1597)  intro- 
duced two  poetical  letters  entitled  Queene  I  sab  ell  to  Bich- 
and  the  second,  and  Richard  the  second  to  Queen  Isabell. 

The  life  of  Richard  II  in  these  numerous  forms  bears, 
has  been  noted,  an  important  relation  to  the  political  tem- 
per of  the  time.  His  deposition  and  murder  had  been 
merely  the  beginning  of  those  fierce  dissensions  and  con- 
flicts between  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster  that  tore 
the  breast  of  England  and  brought  destruction  to  her  kings ; 
not  until  the  accession  of  the  Tudors  had  England  and  her 
royalty  been  able  to  enjoy  comparative  peace  and  security. 
Even  then  the  strife  between  Protestant  and  Catholic  under 
Queen  Mary  could  hardly  allay  fears  of  future  trouble; 
and  on  ascending  the  throne,  Elizabeth  with  her  councillors 
had  all  she  could  do  to  discover  and  suppress  the  intrigues  of 
Mary  Stuart  and  Philip  II,  supported  by  Catholic  sympa- 
thizers, and  directed  by  a  scheming  Pope.  In  fact  the 
Queen  had  the  spectre  of  civil  uprising  continually  before 
her — a  fear  which  sometimes  became  partially  realized  when 
Essex  and  his  followers  sowed  dissension  in  her  own  court. 
Amid  such  threatening  conditions  any  description  of  civil 
strife,  or  of  deposed  kings,  whether  appearing  in  literature, 


THE   STORY   OF   RICHARD   II  97 

or  in  the  theatres,  was  extremely  distasteful  to  her,  fraught 
as  it  was  with  peril  lest  it  excite  disgruntled  factions  to 
rebellion.  And  unfortunately  for  her,  it  was  just  these 
tragedies  of  civil  wars  and  falls  of  kings  in  the  vivid 
chronicles  of  Holinshed  and  Froissart  that  stimulated  the 
imagination  of  the  Tudor  playwrights;  consequently  when 
Elizabeth  was  not  confronted  by  rebellion  in  actuality,  she 
was  forced  to  witness  it  continually  vaunted  on  the  stage 
before  her  restless  and  excitable  subjects. 

Perhaps,  by  1590  Marlowe  had  portrayed  in  pitying  terms 
the  downfall,  deposition  and  murder  of  Edward  II  in  a 
drama  that  created  the  vogue  of  chronicle  plays  and  offered 
a  model  that  succeeding  playwrights  were  quick  to  employ. 
Moreover,  his  success  was  followed  by  the  huge  tetralogy 
of  the  Henry  VI  plays  and  Richard  III,  which  were  doubt- 
less conceived  and  designed,  though  not  completed  by  him. 
About  the  same  time  another  dramatist  dared  to  go  a  step 
farther  in  Woodstock  and  joining  sympathies  with  the 
people  to  glorify  rebellion  and  to  arouse  admiration  for  a 
popular  hero  in  revolt  against  a  weak  but  tyrannical  king. 
In  Woodstock,  as  Professor  Keller  has  noted,  not  only  are 
several  passages  apparently  derived  from  Edward  II,  but 
conceptions  of  character  and  situations  as  well.3  Both  Ed- 
ward and  Richard  are  surrounded  by  contrasted  groups  of 
favorites  and  seditious  nobles — Queen  Anne  in  Woodstock 
is  the  counterpart  of  Queen  Isabella  in  Edward  II;  in  each 
play  Prince  Richard  and  Prince  Edward  throw  off  the 
irksome  guardianship  respectively  of  Gloucester  and  Mor- 
timer; and  both  plays  exhibit  with  tragic  intensity  the  fall 
of  royal  blood  from  high  estate.  Moreover,  Queen  Eliza- 
beth might  well  feel  alarmed  at  Woodstock,  which  veritably 
outdid  Edward  II  by  daring  to  glorify  the  rebellious  and 

s  Shakespeare  Jahrbuch,  XXV,  pp.  21-32. 

8 


98  FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE    PLAY 

intriguing  uncle  of  Richard  II,  and  thus  to  sanction  and 
encourage  whether  explicitly,  or  implicitly  the  spirit  of 
sedition.  The  fact  that  Woodstock  was  never  printed  seems 
to  demonstrate  either  that  it  received  the  condemnation  of 
the  censor,  or  that  the  author  did  not  dare  to  publish. 

Finally  Shakespeare  turned  his  attention  to  the  Richard 
story  and  concluded  it  by  eloquently  portraying  the  depo- 
sition of  the  unhappy  monarch.  Although  Shakespeare 
perhaps  did  not  make  a  conscious  continuation  of  Wood- 
stock, it  seems  clear  that  he  presupposed  familiarity  with 
the  play  on  the  part  of  his  audience,  and  consequently 
plunged  immediately  into  the  trial  by  combat  between  Her- 
ford  and  Mowbray,  incited  by  Woodstock's  foul  murder, 
fully  assured  that  the  spectators  would  pick  up  the  thread 
of  history  where  his  predecessor  had  dropped  it.  Perhaps, 
on  this  account  too,  Shakespeare  omitted  the  comic  treat- 
ment which  had  been  effective  in  Woodstock,  and  followed 
with  greater  historical  accuracy  his  Holinshed,  in  oppo- 
sition to  his  predecessor  who  had  mingled  fact  with  fancy 
and  humor.4 

Moreover,  in  emulation  of  Marlowe's  Edward  II,  an  in- 
debtedness now  well  established,  Shakespeare  presented  the 
study  of  the  same  royal  weakness  under  similar  circum- 
stances. Here  also  are  the  quarrels  of  contrasted  groups 
of  nobles  and  favorites;  the  ensuing  battles,  the  overthrow 
and  public  deposition,  incarceration  and  horrible  death  of 
the  royal  protagonist.  In  the  final  scenes  the  parallel  is 
especially  striking,  when  both  monarchs  abjectly  remove 
their  crowns  with  similar  doleful  protests  and  moralizings. 

Such  pictures  continually  presented  on  the  stage  finally 
brought  condemnation  from  Queen  Elizabeth.  Though 
Shakespeare's   play   was   probably  written   in  full   form 

4  Notice  may  be  made  in  this  connection  of  Professor  Keller's 
parallel  passages  from  Woodstock  and  Kichard  II. 


THE   STORY   OF   RICHARD   II  99 

during  the  years  1595-7,  none  of  the  quartos  that  appeared 
in  Elizabeth's  lifetime  dared  to  include  the  Parliament 
scene  and  the  deposing  of  Richard.  And  when  Sir  John 
Hayward  gave  offense  by  publishing  in  1599  a  History  of 
the  First  Part  of  the  Life  and  Reign  of  Henry  IV,  he  was 
imemdiately  censured  and  thrown  into  prison  by  the  Star 
Chamber.  In  the  trial  of  Essex  in  the  February  of  the 
following  year,  some  of  Essex's  band  hired  Shakespeare's 
company  to  give  ' '  the  play  of  the  deposyng  and  kyllyng  of 
Kyng  Richard  the  second ' '  to  incite  the  people  to  rebellion. 
At  the  trial  Augustine  Phillips,  an  actor  in  defense  of  the 
company,  held  "the  play  of  Kyng  Ry chard  to  be  so  old  & 
so  long  out  of  vse  as  that  shold  have  small  or  no  Company 
at  y t, ' '  but  that  for  ' '  xls  more  then  their  ordynary  for  y t ' ' 
they  had  consented  to  play  it  on  the  night  of  the  Essex 
Rebellion.  This  was,  of  course,  Shakespeare's  Richard  II. 
Syr  Gelly  Meyricke  also  stated  that  this  drama  presented 
' '  Kyng  Harry  iiijth  and  the  kyllyng  of  Kyng  Ry  chard  the 
second  played  by  the  Lord  Chamberlein's  players,  and  at 
the  Globe."5  Camden's  Annals  also  records  the  statement 
"quod  exoletam  tragoediam  de  tragica  abdicatione  Regis 
Ricardi  Secundi  in  publico  theatro  coram  conjurationis 
participibus  data  pecunia  agit  curasset. "  Finally,  shortly 
before  Queen  Elizabeth's  death  William  Lambard,  as 
quoted  by  John  Nichols,0  thus  describes  the  Queen  reading 
a  volume  of  Pandecta  Rotidorum:  "So  her  Majestie  fell 
upon  the  reign  of  Richard  II,  saying,  'I  am  Richard  II, 
Know  ye  not  that?'  W.L.  'Such  a  wicked  imagination 
was  determined  and  attempted  by  a  most  unkind  Gent.,  the 
most  adorned  creature7  that  ever  your  Majestie  made.' 
Her  Majestie  'He  that  will  forget  God  will  also  forget  his 

s  Domestic  State  Papers,  Elizabeth,  cclxxxiii,  78  and  85. 

6  Progresses  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  III,  552. 

7  Essex. 


100        FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH.   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

benefactors;  this  tragedy  was  played  40  times  in  the  open 
streets  and  houses/  " 

Another  non-extant  play  on  the  same  invidious  subject, 
entitled  perce  of  extone  (Henslowe's  diary;  Greg.  I,  85), 
and  written  by  Wilson,  Dekker,  Drayton  and  Chettle,  very 
likely  was  the  rival  of  Shakespeare 's  play  among  those  forty 
performances  of  which  Elizabeth  complained. 

The  remaining  chapters  will  explain  how  far  the  transla- 
tion of  Froissart  by  Lord  Berners  was  ultimately  respon- 
sible for  this  picture  of  Richard  II  in  the  plays  and  poems 
which  caused  so  much  disturbance.  Special  chapters  have 
been  given  to  each  version  and  as  in  the  discussion  of  Ed- 
ward III,  quotations  from  the  chronicles  have  been  ap- 
pended under  references  to  the  work  in  question.  With 
these  sources  before  the  reader,  the  parts  derived  from 
Froissart  and  those  from  other  sources  may  be  easily  de- 
termined. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  JACK  STEAW 

The  Life  and  Death  of  Jack  Straw  was  entered  on  the 
Stationers'  Register  as  an  'enterlude  of  lyf '  on  October  23, 
1593.  The  first  quarto  bearing  on  the  title  page  the  date 
1593,  but  in  the  printer's  notice  at  the  end,  1594,  was 
issued  with  the  title  The  Life  and  Death  of  Jacke  Straw  a 
notabel  Rebell  in  England;  who  was  kild  in  Smithfield  by 
the  Lord  Maior  of  London.  Printed  at  London  by  John 
Danter,  and  are  to  be  solde  by  William  Burley  at  his  shop 
in  Gratious-Street  over  against  Leaden  Hall  1594.  The 
copyright  was  transferred  with  other  plays  to  Thomas 
Pauyer  in  1604,  and  the  second  quarto  was  issued  for  him 
in  the  same  year.  Although  both  quartos  are  badly  muti- 
lated, and  bear  signs  of  careless  workmanship,  the  first 
is  more  accurate  than  the  second.  W.  C.  Hazlitt  edited 
the  second  quarto  for  his  edition  of  Dodsley,  a  reprint  con- 
taining many  textual  errors  in  addition  to  those  of  the 
original.  In  1901  H.  Schiitt  reprinted  the  first  quarto  in 
his  Kiel  dissertation  on  Jack  Straw,  and  with  the  aid  of 
Holthausen,  corrected  the  text  and  added  a  useful  discus- 
sion. All  references  to  the  play  here  are  based  upon  this 
edition. 

The  Life  and  Death  of  Jack  Straw  presents  a  vivid  pic- 
ture in  four  acts  of  the  famous  Peasants'  Revolt  of  1381, 
led  by  Wat  Tyler  and  Jack  Straw.  The  first  three  acts 
portray  the  uprising  from  its  beginning  to  the  death  of 
Jack  Straw,  the  protagonist,  by  the  sword  of  Walworth, 
the  Mayor  of  London.     The  last  act  describes  the  execu- 

101 


102         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

tion  of  Wat  Tyler,  and  the  mad  priest,  John  Ball ;  and  the 
knighting  of  the  Lord  Mayor. 

In  his  introduction  to  the  play,  Schiitt  traces  the  sources 
of  Jack  Straw  to  the  Chronicles  of  Holinshed,  Grafton  and 
Stow.  Inasmuch  as  all  of  his  selections  from  Holinshed 
are  found  in  more  complete  form  in  either  Stow  or  Grafton, 
it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  he  quoted  Holinshed  at 
all.  This  error  becomes  more  puzzling  when  it  is  realized 
that  both  Stow  and  Grafton  contain  sources  that  Holins- 
hed does  not  afford :  e.  g.,  Holinshed  lacks  a  necessary  pass- 
age in  John  Ball's  Sermon,  and  an  account  of  the  attack 
on  the  Flemings,  both  of  which  are  in  Stow;  and  Grafton 
provides  the  Sir  John  Morton  episode  of  which  Holinshed 
makes  no  mention.  The  review  of  Berners'  influence  on 
English  chronicles  in  Chapter  III,  noted  that  Grafton  took 
Berners '  version  of  the  Wat  Tyler  Rebellion  verbatim,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  additions  from  Fabian ;  but  since  one 
of  Fabian's  passages  is  reproduced  in  the  text  of  the  play,  it 
is  evident  that  Grafton  was  the  chronicle  consulted  and  that 
although  the  subject  matter  came  originally  from  Frois- 
sart,  Berners'  translation  of  it  was  only  indirectly  the 
source  of  the  play.  (See  sources  for  III,  1  and  2  ff.) 
Stow's  share  in  these  sources  is  merely  supplementary.  The 
following  diagram  conveniently  illustrates  the  relations  of 
the  play  to  the  sources  and  originals. 

Berners*  Froissart        Fabian  Walsingham         Knighton 


Grafton  Stow 


Jack  Straw 
Although  the  following  quotations  from  Grafton  will  often 


JACK  STRAW  103 

obviously  accord  with  the  selections  of  Schiitt,  it  has  seemed 
best,  while  omitting  the  useless  quotations  from  Holinshed, 
to  give  more  complete  extracts  from  Grafton  in  order  to 
substantiate  fully  the  large  indebtedness  of  the  author  of 
Jack  Straw  to  his  chronicle.  It  should  be  noted  at  the 
outset,  however,  that  the  chronicles  do  not  agree  in  the  use 
of  the  names  Wat  Tyler  and  Jack  Straw.  Although  these 
men  are  always  two  distinct  leaders  of  the  uprising,  cer- 
tain events  ascribed  to  Jack  Straw  in  one  chronicle  are 
given  to  Wat  Tyler  in  another,  and  vice  versa.  Jack  Straw 
is  a  nickname  for  John  Tyler,  probably  a  brother  of  Wat 
Tyler.1 

Sources  for  Jack  Straw 

Act  I 

John  Tyler  slays  the  King's  tax  collector  for  insulting 
his  daughter.  Parson  Ball  instigates  a  rebellion  among  the 
commons. 

Scene  One. 

Grafton,  I,  416.  "  And  in  this  yere  a  Parliament  was  called, 
and  therin  was  graunted  to  the  king  foure  pence  euery  man  and 
woman  beyng  of  the  age  of  xiiij  yeres  and  upward,  that  were 
within  the  realme,  at  the  which  Subsidy  the  people  did  greatly 
murmure  and  much  mischief  came  thereof,  as  in  the  yere  follow- 
yng  shall  appere.  But  yet  with  that  money  and  armie  was  pre- 
pared and  sent  ouer  .  .  .  passed  the  water  of  Some  .  .  .  and 
after  lodged  them  betwene  the  newe  Towne  and  Sens"  (The  last 
sentence  is  the  source  for  Act  I,  scene  2,  lines  1-9). 

Stow,  294.  "  This  tumult  thus  begun  in  Kent  by  meane  of  sir 
Simon  Burley,  was  also  increased  by  diuers  other  actions  in  other 
places  amongst  the  which  as  I  finde  noted  in  a  Chronicle  some- 
times belonging  to  the  Monastery  of  St.  Albans  one  of  the  col- 
lectors of  the  grotes,  or  pole  Money,  coming  to  the  house  of  one 

1  For  further  discussion  on  this  subject  see  Eng.  Hist.  Eeview, 
Vol.  21,  p.  106. 


104         FROISSART  AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

John  Tylar,  in  the  towne  of  Dartford  in  Kent,  demanded  of  the 
Tylar's  wife,  for  her  husbad,  herselfe,  her  servaunts,  &  for  their 
daughter  (a  young  may  den)  euery  one  of  them  a  grote,  which 
the  Tylar's  wife  denied  not  to  pay,  sauing  for  her  daughter  who 
she  said  was  but  a  child,  not  to  be  counted  a  woman:  quoth  the 
collector  that  will  I  soone  wit,  and  taking  the  mayden,  turned  her 
up  to  search  whether  shee  were  undergrowne  with  haire  or  not, 
(for  in  many  places  they  made  the  like  triall)  whereupon  her 
mother  cried  out,  neighbours  came  running  in:  and  her  husband 
being  at  worke  in  the  same  towne,  tyling  of  an  house,  when  he 
heard  thereof,  caught  his  lathing  staffe  in  his  hand,  and  ranne 
reaking  home  where  reasoning  with  the  Collector,  who  made  him 
so  bold  the  Collector  answering  with  stout  words  &  strake  at  the 
Tylar,  whereupon  the  Tylar  auoiding  the  blow,  smote  the  Col- 
lector with  his  lathing  staffe,  that  the  braines  flew  out  of  his  head, 
where  through  great  noyse  arose  in  the  streetes  and  the  poore 
people  being  glad,  every  one  prepared  to  support  the  said  John 
Tylar.  Thus  the  Commons  being  drawne  together,  went  to  Maid- 
stone, and  from  thence  backe  again  to  Blackeheath,  and  so  in 
short  time  they  stirred  all  the  countrey.  .  .  .  These  Commons  had 
to  their  Chapeleine  or  Preacher  a  wicked  Priest,  called,  Sir  John 
Ball,  who  counsailed  them  to  destroy  all  the  Nobility,  and  Cleargy, 
so  that  there  should  be  no  Bishop  in  England,  but  one  Arch- 
bishoppe,  which  should  bee  himself  and  that  there  should  not  bee 
aboue  two  religious  persons  in  one  house,  and  their  possessions 
should  be  deuided  among  the  layse  men  for  the  which  doctrine 
they  held  him  as  a  Prophet." 

Parson  Ball's  Sermon  (lines  45-78). 

Stow,  p.  294.  "  This  man  a  twentie  yeeres  together  and  more 
preached  in  diuers  places  those  things  which  he  newe  to  be  liking 
to  the  common  people,  slandering  aswel  ecclesiastical  persons  .  .  . 
he  was  committed  to  prison  by  Simon  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, &  William  Bishop  of  London,  where  hee  prophecyed  that 
hee  should  bee  deliuered  by  twentie  thousand  of  his  friendes 
which  came  to  passe  in  the  foresaid  time  of  troubles,  when  all 
prisons  were  broken  up  and  the  prisoners  driven  forth  and  when 


JACK   STRAW  105 

he  was  so  deliuered,  he  followeth  them,  instigating  them  to  com- 
mit much  evill,  and  preaching  that  so  it  ought  to  be  done.  And 
that  his  doctrine  might  infect  the  more  number  of  people,  at 
Blackheath,  where  there  were  many  thousands  of  the  commons 
assembled,  he  began  his  Sermon  in  this  manner. 

When  Adam  dolue  &  Eue   Span 
Who  was  then  a  Gentleman? 

And  continuing  his  begunne  Sermon,  he  sought  by  the  word  of  the 
Proverbe  which  he  towke  for  his  Theame,  to  introduce,  &)  proouve 
that  from  the  beginning,  all  were  made  alike  by  nature,  and  that 
bondage  or  servitude  was  brought  in  by  uniust  oppression  of 
naughty  men,  against  the  will  of  God ;  for  if  it  hadde  pleased  God 
to  haue  made  bondmen,  hee  woulde  haue  appointed  them  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  who  should  haue  bin  slaue  and  who  Lord. 
They  ought  to  consider  therefore,  that  nowe  there  was  a  time 
giuen  them  by  God  in  the  which,  laying  aside  the  yoke  of  con- 
tinuall  bondage,  they  might,  if  they  woulde  enjoy  their  long 
wished  for  libertie.  .  .  .  First,  the  Archbishop  &  great  men  of 
the  kingdom  were  to  be  slaine :  after,  Lawyers,  Justicars,  &  Quest- 
mongers  :  lastly  whomsoeuer  they  knewe  like  hereafter  to  be  hurt- 
full  to  the  commons  they  should  dispatch  out  of  the  land,  for  so 
might  they  purchase  safety  to  themselues  hereafter,  if  the  great 
men  beeing  once  taken  away,  there  were  among  them  equall  libertie, 
all  one  nobilitie  and  like  dignitie,  and  semblable  authoritie  or 
power.  These,  and  many  such  madde  devises  he  preached,  which 
made  the  common  people  to  esteeme  of  him  in  such  manner,  as 
they  cryd  out,  he  should  be  Archybyshop  of  Canterbury  &  Chancel- 
lor of  the  Realme,  for  hee  onely  deserued  the  honour.  .  .  ."  (Cf. 
lines  85,  86.     This  sentence  is  not  in  Holinshed.) 

Wat  Tyler  is  chosen  leader  of  the  rebels  (lines  86-117). 

Gr.,  I,  418.  "And  they  made  to  themseulves  certeine  Capi- 
taines,  named  Watte  Tyler,  Jacke  Straw,  and  John  Ball  and 
other,  of  the  whiche  companye,  Watte  Tyler  was  the  chiefe,  and 
he  was  a  Tyler  in  deede  and  an  ungracious  Patrone." 


106        FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Scene  Two. 

Gr.,  I,  419.  "  This  rebellion  was  well  knowen  in  the  kinges 
Court,  before  anye  of  these  people  began  to  Styrre  out  of  any  of 
their  houses:  But  the  king  nor  hys  counsayle  prouided  not 
remedie  therefore  in  due  tyme  (p.  421).  Then  their  Capteynes 
Watte  Tyler,  Jacke  Straw,  Jack  Shepard,  and  other,  to  the  num- 
ber of  XX  Thousand,  went  through  London,  and  came  to  Sauoy. 
.  .  ."     (Cf.  line  55.) 

Scene  Three. 

"With  this  scene  begins  the  episode  of  Sir  John  Morton, 
who  was  forced  by  the  rebels  to  carry  their  complaint  to 
King  Richard.  The  story  is  not  found  in  Stow  or  Holins- 
hed;  Grafton  transcribed  it  from  Berners'  Froissart. 

Gr.,  I,  419.  "  And  when  they  were  come  to  Rochester  .  .  . 
they  went  to  the  Castel  there,  and  tooke  the  Knight  that  had  the 
rule  thereof  who  was  called  Sir  John  Motton:  and  they  sayde 
unto  him.  Sir  John,  you  must  go  with  us  and  ye  shalbe  our 
souereigne  Capteyne,  and  doe  that  we  will  haue  you  doe.  The 
Knight  made  many  excuses  very  honestly  and  discretely  but  it 
auayled  him  nothing,  for  they  sayde  unto  him,  Sir  John,  if  ye 
do  not  as  we  will  haue  you  do,  ye  are  but  dead.  .  .  .  And  whyle 
the  lewde  Company  lay  on  Blackheth,  they  agreed  the  next  day, 
which  was  Wednesday,  to  sende  syr  John  Motton  (whom  they 
called  their  Knyght)  to  the  king." 

Scene  Four. 

Scene  four  introduces  the  Queen  Mother,  and  continues 
the  John  Morton  episode. 

Gr.,  I,  420.  "  But  when  they  had  well  bethought  themselues, 
they  wylled  Syr  John  Motton  to  say  to  the  King  that  they  desyred 
to  speake  with  him,  because  that  to  none  other  they  woulde  open 
their  griefes.  The  aforesayde  Knight  durst  doe  none  other,  but 
passed  ouer  the  Thames  and  came  to  the  Towre,  praiyng  to  speake 
with  the  king.  The  king  and  they  that  were  with  him  in  the 
Towre,  desirous  to  here  newes,  wylled  that  the  knight  should  come 
unto  them.  And  at  that  tyme  there  were  present  with  the  king, 
first  the  princesse  his  mother,  and  hys  two  brethren,  the  Erie  of 


JACK   STRAW  107 

Kent,  and  the  Lord  John  Holland,  the  Erie  of  Salisburie  .  .  . 
the  Archebishop  of  Cantorbury,  the  Lord  of  Saint  Johns,2,  Sir 
Robert  of  Namure  .  .  .  the  Maiour  of  London,  and  dyuers  other 
notabel  citizens. 

Thys  knight  syr  John  Motton,  who  was  well  knowen  among  them 
for  he  was  one  of  the  kinges  officiers.  He  kneeled  downe  before 
the  king,  and  sayde.  My  redouted  Lorde,  let  it  not  displease  your 
grace,  the  message  that  I  must  shew  unto  you,  for  deare  syr,  it  is 
by  force  and  agaynst  my  will,  Sir  John,  sayde  the  king,  saye  what 
ye  will,  I  holde  you  excused,  Sir  the  commons  of  your  realme 
hath  sent  me  unto  you,  for  to  desyre  you  to  come  and  speake  with 
them  on  Blackheth,  for  they  desyre  to  speake  with  you  and  none 
other.  And  syr  ye  neede  not  to  haue  any  doubt  of  your  person, 
for  they  will  doe  you  no  hurte,  for  they  holde  and  will  holde  you 
fortheir  king;  But  Sir,  they  say  they  will  shew  you  diuers  things 
the  which  shall  be  right  necessary  for  you  to  take  heede  of,  when 
they  speake  with  you,  of  the  which  thinges  I  haue  no  charge  to 
shewe  you :  But  I  humbly  beseeche  you,  to  geue  me  your  aunswere, 
such  as  may  appease  them  and  that  they  maye  knowe  for  truth 
that  I  haue  spoken  with  you,  for  they  haue  my  children  in  hostage 
until]  I  returne  agayne  unto  them;  and  if  I  returne  not  agayne, 
they  will  sley  my  choldren  incontynent.  Then  sayde  the  king, 
ye  shall  haue  answere  forthwith. 

Then  the  king  toke  counsayle  what  was  best  for  him  to  doe, 
and  it  was  anone  determined  that  the  nexte  morning  the  king 
would  go  downe  by  water,  and  without  fayle  speak  with  them,  by 
the  Thames  side,  whether  he  wylled  that  a  certeine  of  them  should 
come  unto  him." 

The  dramatist  consulted  the  following  passages  for  lines 
1-52  and  137-157  which  describe  the  fear  of  the  Queen. 

Gr.,  I,  419.  "  The  same  day  that  these  unhappie  people  of 
Kent  were  commyng  to  London,  there  returned  from  Canterbury 
the  kinges  mother  Princess  of  Wales.  .  .  .  She  was  in  great 
jeopardy  to  haue  beene  lost  .  .  .  howbeit  God  kept  her.  .  .  .  And 
the  same  tyme  Bichard  her  sonne,  was  at  the  Tower  of  London, 

2  The  Lord  Treasurer. 


108        FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

and  there  his  mother  found  him  and  with  him  there  was  the  Erie 
of  Salisbury,  the  Archebishop  of  Cauntorbury. 

Act  II 
Scene  One. 

In  this  comic  scene  Nobs  (a  survival  of  the  old  Vice  of 
the  Morality  and  Interlude)  steals  a  goose  from  Tom 
Miller.  The  sentence  "It  is  good  to  make  prouision  for 
peradventure  we  shall  lacke  virtuals"  is  reminiscent  of 
Grafton  (I,  p.  420)  "And  the  fourth  part  of  them  fasted 
for  lack  of  virtuall,  which  greued  them  muche." 

Scene  Two. 

King  Richard  frightened  by  clamors  of  the  mob  avoids 
the  appointed  meeting  by  the  Thames,  and  turns  his  barge 
toward  London. 

Gr.,  I,  420-1.  "In  the  morning  being  Thursday,  the  king 
being  accompanied  wyth  the  Erie  of  Salsburie  .  .  .  tooke  his 
barge  and  rowed  downe  along  the  Thames  to  Detforde,  and  there 
were  come  doune  and  the  hill  aboue  ten  thousand  of  the  afore- 
sayd  persons,  to  see  and  speake  with  the  king. 

And  when  they  sawe  the  kings  Barge  coming,  they  began  to 
showte,  and  made  such  a  crie  as  if  all  the  Deuills  in  hell  had  bene 
among  them.  And  they  had  brought  with  them  Sir  John  Motton, 
to  the  entent  that  if  the  king  had  not  come,  they  would  haue 
hewen  hym  all  to  pieces,  and  so  they  promysed  hym. 

And  when  the  king  and  his  Lords  sawe  the  demeanour  of  the 
people,  the  stowtest  hearted  of  them  that  were  with  the  king  were 
afrayed.  And  the  Lordes  counsayled  the  king  not  to  take  any 
landyng  there,  but  to  towe  up  and  doune  the  ryuer.  .  .  .  Then 
the  king  was  counsayled  to  return  agayne  to  the  Towre  of  London, 
and  so  he  did.  And  when  they  sawe  that,  they  were  enflamed 
with  wrath.  .  .  .  Then  they  cryed  all  wyth  one  voyce,  let  us  go  to 
London,  and  so  they  tooke  their  waye  thether,  and  in  their  goyng 
they  bet  downe  the  Lawyers  houses  without  all  mercie,  and  many 
other  houses  of  such  as  had  officies  under  the  king." 


JACK   STRAW  109 

Scene  Three. 

Scene  three  introduces  two  new  characters, — Sir  John 
Newton  and  Spencer,  a  bargeman, — whom  the  dramatist 
took  from  Stow.  Pages  288-9  of  Stow's  chronicle  contain 
an  episode  (unconnected  with  the  play)  between  Wat  Tyler 
and  a  Sir  John  Newton.  The  name  Spencer  is  taken  at 
random  from  a  Sir  Henry  Spencer  mentioned  on  page  291. 
These  characters  discuss  the  flight  of  the  king  to  London. 

Scene  Four. 

The  mob  pillages  London  and  its  suburbs. 

Gr.,  I,  421.  "  And  specially  they  brake  up  the  kinges  prisons, 
as  the  Marshalsey,  and  the  hinges  Benche,  and  delyuered  freely 
all  the  prisoners  that  were  within.  And  at  the  bridge  foote, 
because  the  Gates  were  closed,  they  threatened  sore  the  Citizens 
of  London,  sayeng  how  they  would  brenne  all  the  suburbes  and 
also  sley  all  the  commons  of  the  Citie,  and  set  the  Citie  on  fyre. 
And  within  the  Citie  were  a  great  number  of  their  affinitie,  and 
they  sayde :  why  doe  not  we  let  these  good  f elowes,  into  the  Citie  ? 
they  are  oure  felowes,  and  that  that  they  doe  is  for  us." 

Scene  Five. 

St.,  228.  ".  .  .  .  they  fetched  .  .  .  Flemings  ...  in  other  places 
of  the  Cittie,  and  in  Southwarke,  all  which  they  beheaded,  except 
they  could  plainly  pronounce  bread  and  cheese,  for  if  their  speech 
sounded  any  thing  on  brot,  or  cawse,  off  went  their  heads,  as  a 
sure  marke  they  were  Flemings." 

Conference  between  King  and  mob. 

Gr.,  I,  423.  "  And  the  king  entered  in  among  them,  and  spake 
unto  them  gently  and  sayde.  A  good  people,  I  am  your  king, 
what  lacke  ye?  what  doe  ye  saye?  Then  such  as  heard  him  sayd, 
that  ye  will  make  us  free  for  euer,  our  selues,  our  heyres,  and  oure 
landes,  and  that  we  be  called  no  more  bondmen,  nor  from  hence- 
forth so  to  be  reputed  or  taken.  Sirs,  sayde  the  king,  I  doe 
gladly  graunt  your  request;  withdrawe  you  home  to  your  owne 
houses,  and  into  suche  Villages  as  ye  came  from,  and  leaue  behind 


110        FROISSAET   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

you  of  euery  Village  two  or  three,  and  I  wyll  cause  wrytinges  to 
be  made  and  seale  them  with  my  seale,  the  which  they  shall  haue 
with  them,  conteining  euery  thing  that  ye  demaund.  .  .  .  These 
wordes  quieted  well  the  common  people.  .  .  .  And  the  king  sayde 
also  one  worde,  the  which  greatly  contented  them,  and  that  was: 
syrs,  among  you  good  men  of  Kent,  ye  shall  haue  one  of  my 
banners,  and  ye  of  Essex  another.  .  .  .  And  also  I  pardon  euery 
thing  that  ye  haue  done  hetherto,  so  that  ye  folowe  my  Banners, 
and  returne  home  to  your  houses.  They  all  aunswered  they  would 
so  doe.     Thus  these  people  departed  and  went  to  London.  .  .  . 

But  yet  great  venome  remayned  behind,  for  Watte  Tyler, 
Jacke  Strawe  and  other  of  their  Captaines  sayde,  they  would  not 
so  depart,  and  there  agreed  unto  them  mo  then  XXX  thousand: 
And  thus  they  abode  stil,  and  made  no  haste,  neyther  to  haue  the 
kings  wryting  or  Seale,  for  their  ententes  was  to  haue  spoyled  the 
Citie.  .  .  .  When  it  drewe  toward  nyght,  the  king  came  to  the 
Towre  in  the  Royall,  where  the  Princesse  his  mother  beyng  in 
great  feare  had  remayned  all  that  day,  to  comfort  her  and  taried 
there  with  her  all  that  night." 

Gr.,  I,  424-5.  (Cf.  lines  75  to  end  of  Sc.  2.)  "  On  Saturday, 
the  next  day  in  the  forenoone,  the  king  had  bene  at  Westminster, 
and  came  from  thence  on  the  backsyde  through  Holborne  into 
London,  and  thought  to  haue  ridden  to  the  Tower,  and  as  he 
came  ouer  Smithfielde,  he  sawe  there  Watte  Tyler,  Jacke  Strawe, 
and  their  companie  assembled  together,  which  caused  him  a  little 
to  stay,  and  considering  them  wel,  they  seemed  to  be  nere  unto 
the  number  of  XX  thousand.  .  .  .  And  when  Watte  Tyler3  sawe 
the  king,  he  sayd  to  his  company,  yonder  is  the  king,  I  will  go 
speake  with  him,  stirre  not  you,  quoth  he  to  the  people,  from 
hence,  except  I  make  you  a  signe,  and  when  I  make  you  a  signe, 
come  on  together,  and  slay  them  all  (except  the  king)  But  do 
the  king  no  hurt,  for  he  is  yong,  and  we  shall  rule  him  as  we  list, 
and  lead  him  with  us  round  about  England,  and  so  without  doubt 
we  may  be  Lordes  of  the  realme.  And  therewith  he  spurred  his 
horse,  and  came  to  the  king,  so  nere  him  that  hys  horse  touched 
the  kinges  horses  heade  as  they  roade,  and  the  first  worde  that  he 

3  Jack  Straw  in  the  play. 


JACK   STRAW  HI 

sayde  unto  the  king  was  this,  Sir  King  seest  thou  all  yonder 
people?  ye  truely  sayd  the  king,  wherefore  askest  thou  that? 
Because  sayde  he,  they  be  all  at  me  commandement,  and  haue 
sworne  to  me  fayth  and  trouth,  to  do  all  that  I  will  haue  them. 
In  a  good  tyme  sayde  the  king,  be  it  so.  .  .  .  With  those  wordes 
Watte  Tyler  cast  his  euen  on  a  Squier  that  was  ther  with  the 
king,  and  bare  the  kinges  sworde.  And  Watte  Tyler  hated 
greatly  the  same  Squier,  for  wordes  that  had  passed  the  day 
before  betwene  them,  and  sayde  unto  him,  what,  sayest  he,  art 
thou  there?  Geue  me  thy  dagger.  Nay  sayd  the  Squier,  that  I 
will  not  do,  wherefore  should  I  geue  it  thee?  The  king  beheld 
the  squier  and  sayd,  geue  it  him.  And  when  Watte  Tyler  had 
it,  he  began  to  play  wyth  it  in  his  hand,  turning  of  it:  And  then 
he  sayd  againe  to  the  Squier  geue  me  that  sworde,  nay  sayd  he, 
it  is  the  kings  sworde,  thou  art  not  worthie  to  haue  it  for  thou 
art  but  a  knaue.  And  there  were  no  mo  here  but  thou  and  I, 
thou  durst  not  demaund  any  such  things  of  me,  neyther  to  speake 
as  thou  hast  spoken,  for  as  much  Golde  as  would  lye  in  yonder 
Abbey:  By  my  fayth  sayd  Watte  Tyler,  I  will  neuer  eate  meate 
untill  I  haue  thy  head. 

And  with  those  wordes  the  Maior  of  London  came  to  the  King, 
with  Xij  horses  well  armed  under  their  coates,  and  so  he  brake 
the  prease,  and  saw  and  heard  the  demeanor  of  Watte  Tyler  in 
the  presence  of  the  King,  and  he  sayde  unto  him,  Ha  thou  knaue, 
howe  darest  thou  be  so  bolde  in  the  kinges  presence  to  speake 
suche  words,  it  is  to  much  to  suffer  thee  so  to  do.  Then  the  king 
began  to  chafe,  and  sayde  to  the  Maior,  set  handes  on  him.  And 
when  the  king  had  sayd  so,  Watte  Tyler  sayde  to  the  Maior,  a 
Gods  name,  what  haue  I  sayde  to  displease  thee?  Yes  truely 
quoth  the  Maior,  thou  false  stinking  knaue,  shalt  thou  speake  thus 
in  the  presence  of  the  king  my  naturall  Lorde?  I  wish  neuer 
to  Hue,  except  thou  dearely  by  it.  And  with  those  wordes  the 
Maior  drewe  out  his  sworde,  and  stroke  Watte  Tyler,  such  a 
stroke  on  the  head  that  he  fell  downe  at  the  feete  of  his  horse. 
.  .  .  Then  the  unhappy  people  there  assembled,  perceyuyng  their 
Capteyne  slaine  began  to  murmure  among  themselves  and  sayd: 
A,  our  Capteine  is  slaine,  let  us  go  slay  them  all.  .  .  .  The  king 


112         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE    PLAY 

departed  from  all  his  company.  .  .  .  And  when  he  came  to  his 
ungracious  people  .  .  .  sayd  unto  them,  £>irs  what  ayleth  you, 
you  shall  haue  no  Capteine  but  me,  I  am  and  will  be  your  king 
and  Capteine.  .  .  ." 

Act  III 
Scenes  One  and  Two. 

After  pillaging  London,  burning  records,  slaying  nobles, 
and  frightening  the  Queen  Mother,  the  rebels  demand  a 
conference  with  the  king,  who  gives  them  partial  satisfac- 
tion. Another  conference  follows  at  which  the  Mayor  of 
London  slays  Jack  Straw. 

Two  facts  at  this  point  prove  that  Grafton's  Chronicle 
was  the  source  of  the  play  and  not  Berners'  Froissart. 

1.  Berners'  Froissart  does  not  mention  the  destruction 
of  the  records  and  the  books  of  law. 

2.  Grafton  supplies  these  details  in  an  interpolated  sen- 
tence which  he  took  from  Fabian,  as  designated  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage : 

Gr.,  I,  421.  "Then  their  Capteynes  Watte  Tyler,  Jacke 
Straw,  Jack  Shepard,  and  other,  to  the  number  of  XX  thousand, 
went  through  London,  and  came  to  Sauoy,  which  then  was  a 
goodly  place,  and  perteyned  to  the  Duke  of  Lancaster.  And 
when  they  were  entered  therein,  they  first  slue  the  keepers  thereof 
and  then  spoyled  and  robbed  the  house.  And  when  they  had  so 
done,  they  set  fyre  on  it,  and  cleane  consumed  and  destroyed  it: 
and  then  came  unto  the  temple  and  other  innes  of  court,  and 
spoyled  the  bookes  of  law  and  the  recordes  of  the  counter,  and 
set  all  the  prisoners  of  newegate  and  the  counters  at  large.4  And 
when  they  had  this  done,  then  they  went  streight  to  the  goodly 
Hospitall  of  the  Rhodes,  called  Saint  Johns  beyond  Smithfielde, 

*Cf.  Fabian,  p.  530.  "Tha  they  entryd  the  cytie  &  serchid  the 
Temple  and  other  innes  of  court,  $  spoylyd  theyr  placys  &  brent 
theyr  bokys  of  lawe,  ...  &  toke  with  them  all  seyntwary  men,  &  the 
jiri/sons  of  Newgate,  &  ...  of  bothe  Counters,  &  distroyed  theyr 
registers  &  bokis." 


JACK   STRAW  113 

and  spoyled  that  likewyse,  and  then  consumed  it  with  fyre." 
(The  italicized  words  appear  in  speeches  of  Tom  Miller  and  Nobs 
in  Scene  two  and  in  the  Lord  Mayor's  speech  in  Scene  one.) 

Attack  on  the  Queen  Mother. 

Gr.,  I,  422.  "Also  these  wretches  entred  into  the  Princesse 
Chamber,  and  brake  her  head,  with  the  which  she  was  so  sore 
afrayde,  that  she  sowned,  and  so  was  taken  ...  to  a  place  called 
the  Royall  and  there  she  was  all  that  day  and  night,  as  a  woman 
halfe  deade,  untill  shee  was  comforted  with  the  king  her  sonne,  as 
ye  shall  after  here." 

Act  IV 

Act  IV  portrays  the  punishment  of  "Wat  Tyler  and  Par- 
son Ball  and  the  king's  pardon  of  the  other  rebels.  The 
play  ends  with  the  knighting  of  Walworth,  Lord  Mayor  of 
London. 

Gr.,  I,  427.  "  But  nowe  sayeth  Froyssart,  John  Ball,  and  Jack 
Strawe5  were  found  hidden  in  an  olde  house,  where  they  had 
thought  to  haue  stollen  awaue,  but  they  could  not,  for  they  were 
accused  by  their  awne  company.  Of  the  taking  of  them,  the 
king  and  his  Lordes  were  glad,  he  caused  their  heades  to  be 
striken  of,  and  Watte  Tylers  also,  and  commaunded  them  to  be 
set  upon  London  bridge  .  .  .  (428)  and  the  rest  he  pardoned,  and 
so  all  the  realme  was  quieted."  (426.)  There  the  king  made  foure 
knightes.  The  one  the  Maiour  of  London,  Syr  Nycholas  Wal- 
worth, Sir  John  Standishe  and  Syr  Nycholas  Brembre." 


A  comparison  of  the  passages  given  above  with  the  text 
of  the  drama  shows  that  Grafton 's  Chronicle  was  the  source 
of  the  whole  play  with  the  exception  of  two  scenes  (I,  1; 
II,  5)  and  two  names  of  characters.  It  has  also  been  noted 
that  Grafton's  account  of  the  rebellion  is  largely  copied 
from  Berners'  Froissart,  but  that  the  interpolation  from 

s  Wat  Tyler  in  the  play. 

9 


114        FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Fabian  proves  that  Grafton,  and  not  Froissart  was  the 
direct  source  of  the  play.  Many  words  and  phrases  taken 
directly  from  Grafton's  text  leads  one  to  believe  that  the 
dramatist  wrote  the  play  with  the  chronicle  open  before 
him.  It  might  possibly  be  contended  that  Grafton  sup- 
plied the  material  for  the  two  scenes  ascribed  here  to  Stow, 
since  the  former  also  has  an  account  of  John  Ball's  sermon, 
and  a  description  of  the  Flemish  slaughter.  It  is  unfair 
to  make  the  contention,  however,  since  the  passages  from 
Stow  resemble  in  wording  the  lines  of  these  scenes  as  closely 
as  the  passages  of  Grafton  resemble  the  lines  in  the  rest  of 
the  play.  Following  the  custom  of  other  chronicle  play- 
wrights, the  author  of  Jack  Straw  supplemented  Grafton, 
his  main  source,  with  a  few  details  from  Stow,  his  minor 
source. 


CHAPTER  VII 

A  TRAGEDY  OF  KING  RICHARD  II  (WOODSTOCK) 

The  anonymous  Tragedy  of  King  Richard,  concluding  the 
Murder  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  at  Calais  was  inaccessible 
to  students  of  the  drama  until  1870,  when  J.  0.  Halliwell 
printed  copies  of  the  play  in  quarto  from  the  Egerton 
manuscript  in  the  British  Museum.  The  text  of  this  edi- 
tion, however,  was  proved  unreliable  by  Professor  Wolf- 
gang Keller,  who  in  the  Shakespeare  Jahrbuch,  1899, 
volume  XXXV,  published  the  first  accurate  text  with  help- 
ful notes  and  discussions  of  sources.  He  also  assigned  as  a 
reasonable  date  for  Woodstock  (or  1  R  2,  as  he  names  the 
play)  1591-2,  or  between  Marlowe's  Edward  II  and  Shake- 
speare's RicJiard  II. 

The  drama,  as  has  been  noted,  covers  the  historic  period 
1382-1397,  from  the  marriage  of  Richard  and  Anne  of 
Bohemia,  to  the  murder  of  Woodstock,  Duke  of  Gloucester. 
Yet  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  Halliwell  entitled  the 
play  A  Tragedy  of  King  Richard,  because  Woodstock,  and 
not  Richard,  is  the  protagonist  and  victim.  A  search  for 
the  historical  sources  of  the  hero's  career  presents  a  prob- 
lem very  different  from  that  of  Edward  III  or  Jack  Straw, 
and  one  far  more  baffling  and  difficult.  To  observe  the 
close  adaptations  of  the  chronicle  by  the  dramatist  in  the 
preceding  plays  requires  but  little  comparative  study.  For 
Woodstock,  however,  no  one  chronicle  suffices.  The  author 
unquestionably  had  several  chronicles  at  his  disposal  and 
selected  details  from  them  haphazard,  without  the  slightest 
regard  for  chronology  or  historical  accuracy.    He  increased 

115 


116         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

the  confusion  further  by  frequently  interrupting  the  main 
action  with  comic  scenes  of  his  own  invention. 

Professor  Keller  diligently  gathered  from  Holinshed  and 
Stow  all  passages  from  these  chronicles  which  have  a  pos- 
sible bearing  upon  the  play.  A  comparison  of  the  text 
with  his  quotations,  however,  leaves  much  to  be  desired, 
for  whole  scenes  and  details  of  important  scenes  remain 
without  sources.  But  an  examination,  restricted  to  any  one 
chronicle,  leads  to  the  same  inadequate  result.  Any  one  of 
the  three  chronicles  of  Berners,  Grafton  or  Holinshed, 
could  furnish  the  main  outline  of  history  as  found  in  the 
play.1  But,  as  Keller  says,  two  or  three  passages  from  Stow 
must  be  cited  for  details  that  no  other  chronicle  mentions, 
although  Stow's  main  narrative  is  inadequate  in  nearly  all 
other  respects.  Grafton's  chronicle,  which  critics  have 
heedlessly  neglected,  affords  on  the  whole  a  source  more 
consistent,  because  more  detailed  than  Holinshed 's;  while 
an  examination  of  Berners '  translation  reveals  sources  for 
events,  characters  and  details  which  are  not  found  in  other 
chronicles.  While  the  accounts  in  all  the  English  chron- 
icles concerning  the  troubles  between  Gloucester  and  Rich- 
ard are  briefly  rehearsed  in  three  or  four  pages,  Froissart's 
narrative  of  twenty-nine  pages  is  paticularly  detailed, — a 
fact  easily  accounted  for,  since  Froissart  was  in  England 
during  the  quarrel.  Furthermore  he  was  personally  ac- 
quainted with  R.  Surrey,2  probably  the  Surrey  of  the  play, 
and  mourned  the  execution  of  Burleigh,2  one  of  Richard's 
favorites.  Froissart's  chronicles  combined  either  with 
Grafton,  or  with  Holinshed  provide  a  satisfactory  source 

i  Fabian 's  account  is  too  cursory  to  be  given  any  consideration. 
Grafton  abandoned  Berners,  and  employed   different  accounts  from 
English  sources.     Holinshed  made  use  of  Thomas  Walsingham.    Stow 
practically  neglected  the  events. 
"roissart,  pp.  615,  281. 


117 

for  the  whole  play,  plus  the  necessary  additions  from 
Stow.  As  there  is  slight  preference  between  Grafton  and 
Holinshed,  references  from  both  have  been  given,  the  one 
quoted  being  the  more  satisfactory  account.  Where  Ber- 
ners'  account  coincides  with  others,  it  has  been  given  the 
preference  only  when  it  is  more  in  accord  with  the  details 
of  the  play.  Thus,  when  a  single  authority  is  quoted,  that 
is  the  only  source;  when  more  than  one  authority  is  cited, 
the  quotation  is  from  the  chronicle  that  resembles  most 
closely  the  text  of  the  play. 

Act  I 
Scene  One. 

Richard's  plot  to  kill  his  uncles. 

Holinshed,  II,  774.3  (Also  in  Grafton,  Stow  and  Fabian), 
(for  lines  1-105.)  "Hereupon  (as  was  said,  whether  trulie  or 
otherwise,  the  lord  knoweth)  by  a  conspiracy  begun  twixt  the 
king  and  such  as  were  most  in  favor  with  him,  it  was  deuised, 
that  the  duke  of  Gloucester  (as  principall)  and  such  other  lords 
as  fouored  the  knights  and  burgesses  in  their  sute,  against  the 
earle  of  SufFolke,  and  were  otherwise  against  the  king  in  his 
demand  of  monie,  should  be  willed  to  a  supper  in  London,  there 
to  be  murthered.  But  the  duke  comming  by  some  meanes  to 
understand  of  this  wicked  practise,  had  no  desire  to  take  part  of 
that  supper,  where  such  sharpe  sauce  was  prouided." 

Admiral  Arondell,  his  sea  victory  and  booty.  Referred 
to  in  Sc.  1,  78-92;  Sc.  3,  140-148;  175-182;  223-229. 

Ber.,  II,  pp.  374-376.  (Holinshed,  Grafton  and  Stow.)  "as 
for  corn  whyne  salte  bacone,  and  other  provision,  they  foude 
ynoughe,  for  there  was  more  than  four  hundred  tonne  of  wyne  in 
the  towne  .  .  .  and  caryd  with  them  moche  wine  .  .  .  and  so 
entred  into  their  vesselles.  .  .  ." 

3  The  references  to  Holinshed  whenever  cited  in  this  chapter  repeat 
Keller's   selections,   S.J.   XXXV. 


118         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Woodstock  discreetly  persuades  Lancaster,  Surrey,  Aron- 
dell  and  York  not  to  plot  against  Richard. 

Ber.,  II,  275-6.  (Grafton.)  (W.  111-215.)  "Than  the  duke 
answered  and  sayde,  fayre  sirs,  I  haue  herde  you  well  speke,  but 
I  alone  can  nat  remedy  this  mater;  howbeit  I  se  well  ye  haue 
cause  to  coplayne  and  so  hathe  all  other  people;  but  though  I  be 
uncle  to  the  kynge  and  sonne  to  a  kyng,  though  I  shulde  speke 
therof,  yet  nothyng  shal  be  done  for  all  that,  for  the  kyng  my 
nephue  hath  suche  cousayle  as  rowe  about  hym,  whome  he  be- 
leueth  better  than  hymselfe,  whiche  cousayle  ledeth  hym  as  they 
lyste.  .  .  ." 

The  following  figure  would  seem  to  be  borrowed  directly 
from  Berners  unless  the  resemblance  be  a  mere  coincidence. 

Woodstock,  lines  141-2  Berners,  II,  281 

u  Wood.  Ye  haue   herde   often   tymes 

Enough,    enough  sayde,  that  if  the  heed  be  sicke, 

Good  brother;  I  haue  found  all    the    membres    can    nat    be 

out  the  disease:  well;  the  malady  must  first  be 

When  the  head  akes,  the  body  pourged." 
is  not  healthfull." 

Scene  Two. 

Tressilian  made  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England.  Gr.  I, 
434;  St.  292;  Hoi.  II,  784;  Berners,  II,  278. 

Scene  Three. 

Marriage  of  Richard  and  Anne  of  Bohemia  (W.  1-150). 

Ber.,  I,  668-9.  (Grafton,  Holinshed,  Stow,  Fabian.) 
There  is  little  choice  of  accounts  here.  Froissart  and  Graf- 
ton have  more  elaborate  accounts  of  the  wedding  than  the 
others. 

Queen  Anne  introduces  side-saddles.  This  detail  is  found 
only  in  Stow,  295.     (W.  57-62.) 


119 


"Also  noble  women.  .  .  rode  on  side  saddles,  after  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Queene  who  first  brought  that  fashion  into  this  land, 
for  before  women  were  used  to  ride  astride  like  men." 

Plain  speaking  and  stubbornness  are  traits  of  Glouces- 
ter's character. 

Ber.,  II,  634-687,  277.     (W.  14-24;  113-231.) 

"  Than  sir  Thomas  Duke  of  Gloucester  sayde,  Sir,  in  the  request 
and  prayer  of  these  good  people,  the  commons  of  your  realme,  I 
se  nothynge  therin  but  ryght  and  reasone."     (P.  277.) 

(P.  684.)  "  Thus  the  duke  of  Gloucestre  .  .  .  whan  the  kyng 
dyd  sende  for  him  he  wolde  come  at  his  pleasure,  and  sometyme 
nat  a  whyt;  and  whan  he  came  to  the  kynge,  he  wolde  be  the 
laste  shulde  come  an  the  first  that  wolde  departe,  and  in  counsayle 
what  he  had  ones  sayd  of  his  opynion,  he  wolde  haue  it  taken  and 
accepted,  else  he  wolde  be  displeased.  .  .  ." 

Richard  confers  official  appointments  upon  his  favorites. 

Ber.,  II,  281.  (W.  183-190.)  "  I  saye  it,  because  this  duke  of 
Irelande  was  so  great  with  the  kyng,  that  he  ruled  hym  as  he 
lyste.  He  and  sir  symon  Burle5  were  two  of  the  princypall 
cousaylours  that  the  kynge  had,  for  they  hadde  a  long  season 
gouerned  the  kynge  and  the  realme ;  and  they  were  had  in  suspects 
that  they  hadde  gadered  richesse  without  nombre.  .  .  ." 

Lancaster  delegated  to  pacify  the  discontented  people. 

Ber.,  II,  686  (230-269).  "These  wordes  or  such  lyke  spoken 
by  the  duke  of  Lancastre  apeased  greatly  the  people  who  were 
sette  to  do  yuell,  by  the  settynge  on  of  other." 

Act  II 
Scene  One. 

The  favorites  urge  Richard  to  kill  Woodstock. 

Ber.,  II,  690-1.     (Hoi.)     "The  kyng  had  as  than  but  yonge 

4  Ireland  is  Tressilian  in  the  play. 

5  Burle  is  Bushey  in  the  play. 


120        FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

counsayle  about  hym,  and  they  greatly  douted  the  duke  of  Glou- 
cestre,  and  oftentymes  wolde  saye  to  the  kynge:  Ryht  dere  sir, 
it  is  a  perylous  thyng  to  serue  you,  for  we  haue  sene  suche  as  haue 
serued  you  in  tymes  paste,  and  such  as  were  ryght  synguler  in 
your  foure  .  .  .  yet  your  uncle  the  duke  of  Gloucestour  caused 
hym  to  dye  shamefully  .  .  .  and,  sir,  we  that  sarue  you  nowe, 
looke  for  the  same  rewarde:  for  whan  your  uncle  cometh  to  you, 
the  whiche  is  nat  often,  we  dare  nat  lyfte  up  our  eyen  to  loke 
upon  any  persone,  he  loket  so  hye  ouer  us;  he  thynketh  we  do 
hym  moche  wrog  that  we  be  so  nere  about  you  as  we  be :  wherf  ore, 
sir,  knowe  for  trouthe  yt  as  long  as  he  liueth  there  shall  be  no 
peace  in  Englande.  .  .  .  Sir,  ye  be  a  kyng  lost  if  ye  take  nat 
goode  hede  to  yourself.  .  .  ." 

The  uncles  appoint  a  Parliament  at  "Westminster  without 
consulting  Richard. 

Ber.,  II,  285.  "  At  last  he  understode  that  the  kynges  uncles, 
and  the  newe  counsayle  of  England,  would  kepe  a  secrete  Parlya- 
ment  at  Westminster.  .  .  ." 

Ber.,  II,  294.  "Whan  he  came  before  hym,  he  humyled  hym- 
selfe  greatlye  to  the  kynge,  and  there  shewed  the  kyng  .  .  .  that 
if  it  were  his  pleasure  to  come  to  London  to  his  palys  of  West- 
mynster,  his  uncles  and  mooste  parte  of  the  realme  wolde  be  ryght 
joyeous,  elles  they  wyll  be  ryght  sorie  and  yuell  displeased.  .  .  . 
The  yonge  kynge  .  .  .  finally  .  .  .  refrayned  his  displeasure,  by 
the  good  meanes  of  the  queue  .  .  .  and  of  some  other  wise 
knightes  that  were  about  hym.  .  .  ." 

Scene  Two. 

Parliament  at  Westminster.  King  Richard  proclaims  his 
right  to  the  throne  and  dismisses  his  uncles. 

Ber.,  II,  295.  "  The  Archebysshoppe  of  Cauntorbury  shewed 
to  the  kynges  uncles  and  counsayle  that  when  Kynge  Rycharde 
was  crowned  Kynge  of  Englande  and  that  euery  man  was  sworne 
and  made  theyr  releues  to  hym  .  .  .  and  a  kynge  out  nat  to 
gouerne  a  royalme  tyll  he  be  XXI  yeres  of  age.  .  .  .  The  bysshop 
sayd  this  because  the  kynge  as  then  was  but  newlye  come  to  the 


121 

age  of  XXI  yeres.  .  .  .  And  Kynge  Richarde  was  in  his  chapell 
in  his  palys  richly  apareyled,  with  his  crowne  on  his  heed.  .  .  ." 

389.  "  Ye  haue  herde  here  before  ho  we  Kynge  Richarde  of 
Englande  had  some  trouble :  he  agaynst  his  uncles,  and  his  uncles 
agaynst  hym,  with  other  dyuers  incydentes,  as  by  the  Duke  of  Ire- 
lande  and  other  .  .  .  and  the  archebysshop  of  Yorke  was  at  a  poynte 
to  haue  loste  his  benefyce  and  by  the  new  counsaylers  about  the 
kyng,  the  lore  Neuell  .  .  .  was  as  than  put  out  of  wages.  .  .  ." 
Page  690.  "  These  dukes  sawe  well  that  the  busyness  of  Eng- 
lande began  to  be  yuell,  and  parceyued  that  gret  hatered  en- 
creased  dayly  .  .  .  they  departed  fro  the  kynges  court  .  .  .  and 
went  to  their  owne." 

Holinshed,  II,  798  ff.  adds:  "The  earle  of  Arundell  likewise 
unto  whome  the  gouernment  of  the  parlement  was  committed,  and 
the  admeraltie  of  the  sea,  was  remooued." 

Ber.,  II,  688.  (Gr.,  I,  464:  Hoi.  II,  838.)  "for  he  thought 
hymselfe  natte  well  assured  amonge  his  uncles:  for  he  sawe  well 
howe  they  absented  theymselfe  fro  his  courte,  and  kept  them  at 
home  at  their  owne  houses,  so  that  he  was  halfe  in  doute  of  them, 
and  specially  of  the  duke  of  Gloucestre,  and  so  kepte  dayly  about 
hym  a  garde  of  a  thousande  archers." 
Scene  Three. 

Consolation  scene  of  the  Queen,  Duchess  of  Ireland  and 
Duchess  of  Gloucester.  Berners  provides  the  source  for 
the  Duchess  of  Ireland's  complaint  (lines  10-12.) 

Ber.,  II,  283.  "  The  duke  of  Ireland  .  .  .  was  in  suche  loue 
with  one  of  the  quene's  damoselles  .  .  .  that  he  wolde  gladly  be 
duorsed  fro  his  owne  wife." 

Act  III 
Scene  One. 

The  Duchess  of  Gloucester  appears  only  in  Froissart. 

The  king  devises  blank  charters  for  extorting  more  money 
from  his  realm. 

Grafton,  I,  471.     "Also  at  thys  tyme  the  king  caused  many 


122         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE   PLAY 

blacke  ehartres  to  be  made,  and  forced  men  to  signe  and  seal  the 
same,  by  the  which  he  might  whe  he  would  undo  any  of  his  sub- 
jects. But  some  write  that  it  was  for  that  he  purposed  to  delyuer 
Calice,  and  all  his  landes  beyonde  the  Sea,  to  the  French  king, 
and  to  shewe  that  al  his  subjectes  had  assented  thereunto."  The 
last  sentence  provides  a  source  for  Act  IV,  scene  1,  lines  109- 
113.     Holinshed  II,  page  848  ff.  mentions  the  blank  charters. 

Richard's  festival  at  Westminster.     (Lines  81-108.) 

Stow,  319.  "This  yeere  (1398-99)  the  K.  kept  a  most  royall 
Christmas,  with  euery  day  justings  and  running  at  the  tile, 
whereunto  resorted  such  a  number  of  people,  that  there  was 
euery  day  spent  XXVIII  or  XXVI  oxen,  and  three  hundred 
sheepe,  besides  foule  without  number.  Also  the  king  caused  a 
garment  for  himselfe  to  be  made  of  gold,  siluer  and  precious 
stones,  to  the  value  of  3foftQ  markes." 

Stow,  295.  (W.  52-58. )Sx-"  In  this  Queenes  dayes,  began  the 
destable  use  of  piked  shooes,-iyed  to  their  knees  with  chaines  of 
siluer  and  guilt." 

Scene  Two. 

Woodstock,  Lancaster  and  York  at  Plashy. 

Ber.,  II,  684,  687.  "The  duke  of  Gloucestre  .  .  .  wolde  .  .  . 
take  his  leaue  and  depart  to  his  maner  in  Essex,  called  Plasshey 
.  .  .  (681)  At  that  tyme  the  Dukes  of  Lancastre  nor  of  Yorke 
were  nat  with  the  kynge  for  they  began  somewhat  to  dissymule, 
for  they  sawe  well  that  the  people  in  Englande  beganne  to  mur- 
mure  in  dyuers  places  on  the  state  and  rewle  that  the  kynge  kept, 
and  that  the  maters  were  lykely  to  go  yuell  .  .  .  and  all  this  came 
by  reasons  of  the  duke  of  Gloucestre  and  his  company. 

The  remainder  of  Act  III  is  given  over  to  comedy  of  the 
dramatist's  invention. 

Act  IV 
Scene  One. 

Richard  'farms  out  the  realm'  to  his  favorites. 

Grafton,  I,  471.     (Hoi.)     "The  saiyng  also  was,  that  before 


"  WOODSTOCK"  123 

his  goyng  into  Ireland,  he  had  let  the  realme  to  ferme  to  Sir 
William  Scrope,  Erie  of  Wiltshire,  and  then  Treasurer  of  Eng- 
land, to  Sir  John  Bushe,  Sir  John  Bagot  and  syr  Henry  Grene, 
knightes,  for  the  terms  of  xiiij  yeres:  By  reason  whereof  they 
procured  many  men  to  be  accused,  and  such  as  were  accused, 
there  was  no  remedye  to  diluer  him,  or  them,  but  were  he  poore  or 
riche,  he  must  compounde  and  make  his  fine  with  those  Tyrannes, 
at  their  will  and  pleasure." 

Gloucester's  capture  by  Richard  and  his  favorites. 

Ber.,  II,  692.  (Hoi.  II.)  "King  Richarde  of  England  noted 
well  these  sayd  wordes,  ye  which  was  shewed  hym  in  secretuess, 
and  lyke  an  ymaginatyfe  price  as  he  was,  within  a  season  after 
that  his  vncles  of  Lacastre  and  of  Yorke  were  departed  out  of  the 
courte,  than  the  kynge  toke  more  hardynesse  on  hym,  and  said 
to  hymself e :  That  fyrste  it  were  better  for  hym  that  he  shulde  do 
hym  no  displeasure  after:  and  bycause  he  could  nat  bring  about 
his  purpose  alone,  he  dyscouered  his  mynde  to  such  as  he  trusted 
best,  as  to  therle  marshall  his  cosyn  erle  of  Nottyngham,  and 
shewed  hym  his  full  mynde  what  he  wolde  do  and  haue  to  be 
doone.  The  erle  marshall  (who  loued  the  kyng  better  than  the 
duke  of  Glocestre  dyde)  kept  the  kynges  purpose  secrete,  sauig 
to  suche  as  he  wolde  be  ayded  by,  for  he  coude  nat  do  ye  kynges 
pleasure  alone.  On  a  day  the  kyng  in  maner  as  goyng  a  hutynge, 
he  rode  to  Haueryng  Boure.  a  XX  myle  fro  London  in  Essexe. 
and  within  XX  myle  of  Plasshey,  where  the  duke  of  Gloucestre 
helde  his  house :  after  dyner  the  kyng  departed  fro  haueryng  with 
a  small  copany,  and  cae  to  Plasshey  about  V.  a  clocke;  ye  weder 
was  fayre  and  hote;  so  the  kyng  cae  sodainly  thyder  about  the 
tyme  that  the  duke  of  Gloucestre  had  supped,  for  he  was  but  a 
small  eater,  nor  satte  neuer  long  at  dyner  nor  at  supper.  Wha 
he  herde  of  the  kynges  comynge,  he  went  to  mete  with  hym  in  the 
myddes  of  the  court,  and  so  dyde  the  duchesse  and  her  chyldren, 
and  they  welcomed  the  kynge,  and  the  kyng  entred  into  the  hall, 
and  so  into  a  chambre:  tha  a  borde  was  spredde  for  the  kynges 


124         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

supper :  the  kynge  satte  nat  long,  and  sayd  at  his  f yrst  commyng : 
Fayre  vncle,  cause  fyue  or  sixe  horses  of  yours  to  be  sadylled,  for 
I  wyll  praye  you  to  ryde  with  me  to  London :  for  to  morrowe  the 
londoners  wyll  be  before  vs,  and  there  wyll  be  also  myne  vncles 
of  Lacastre  and  Yorke,  with  dyuers  other  noble  men:  for  upon 
the  londoners  requestes  I  wyll  be  ordred  accordyng  to  your  coun- 
sayle;  and  comaunde  your  stewards  to  folowe  you  with  your 
trayne  to  lodon,  where  they  shall  fynde  you.  The  duke,  who 
thought  none  yuell,  lightly  agreed  to  ye  kynge;  and  whan  the 
kyng  had  supped  and  rysen,  euery  thynge  was  redy:  the  kynge 
than  toke  a  leaue  of  the  duchesse  and  of  her  children,  and  lepte  a 
horsebacke  and  ye  duke  with  hym,  accompanyed  all  onely  but 
with  seuyn  seruanntes,  thre  squyers  and  foure  yeomen,  and  tooke 
the  waye  of  Bondelay,  to  take  the  playne  waye,  and  to  eschewe 
Bridwode  and  London  comon  hyghe  waye:  so  they  rode  a  great 
pace,  and  talked  by  the  way  with  his  vncle  and  he  with  hym,  and 
so  aproched  to  Stratforde  on  the  ryuer  of  Thamise.  Whan  the 
kyng  came  nere  to  the  busshment  that  he  had  layde,  than  he  rode 
fro  his  vncle  a  great  pace,  and  lef te  hym  somewhat  behynde  hym ; 
than  sodynly  the  erle  Marshall  with  his  bands  came  galopyng 
after  the  duke,  and  ouertoke  hym  and  saide:  Sir,  I  arest  you  in 
the  kynges  name.  The  duke  was  abasshed  with  that  worde,  and 
sawe  well  he  was  betrayed,  and  began  to  call  loude  after  ye  kyng : 
I  can  nat  tell  wheder  the  kyng  herde  hym  or  nat,  but  he  turned 
nat,  but  rode  forthe  faster  than  he  dyde  before." 

Scene  Three. 

Hoi.,  II,  823.  (Ber.,  Gr.)  "  This  yeare  on  Whitsundaie  being 
the  seauenth  of  June,  queene  Anne  departed  this  life,  to  the  great 
greefe  of  hir  husband  king  Richard,  who  loued  hir  intirelie.  She 
deceassed  at  Shene,  and  was  buried  at  Westminster.  .  .  .  The 
king  tooke  such  a  conceit  with  the  house  of  Shene,  where  she 
departed  this  life,  that  he  caused  the  buildings  to  be  throwne 
downe  and  defaced,  whereas  the  former  kings  of  this  land,  being 
wearie  of  the  citie,  vsed  customablie  thither  to  resort,  as  to  a  place 
of  pleasure,  and  seruing  highlie  to  their  recreation." 


125 

Act  V 
Scene  One. 

Murder  of  Gloucester.  Berners  is  the  only  chronicle  that 
describes  in  great  detail, — three  folio  pages, — the  capture 
and  murder  of  Gloucester,  though  such  scenes  had  been 
presented  on  the  stage  before  in  Marlowe's  Edward  II  with 
which  the  author  of  Woodstock  was  certainly  familiar. 
Holinshed  makes  a  brief  reference  to  Gloucester's  death 
which  he  gathered  from  an  "old  French  pamphlet."  (II, 
837.)  Grafton's  account  of  the  capture  is  quite  different, 
and  owes  nothing  to  Berners.  The  last  prayer  of  Glouces- 
ter before  his  murder  is  found  only  in  Berners,  II,  692, 
705-6. 

"  Ye  haue  herde  here  before  of  the  couert  hates  that  was  by- 
twene  kynge  Ryeharde  of  Englande,  and  his  vncle  Thomas  duke 
of  Gloucestre,  whiche  the  kynge  wolde  bear  no  longar,  but  sayd, 
and  also  was  counsayled,  rather  to  distroye  another  man  than 
hymselfe :  and  ye  haue  herde  howe  the  kyng  was  at  Plasshey,  and 
by  crafte  and  coloure,  brought  hym  out  of  his  owne  house  to 
London,  and  by  the  waye  about  X.  or  a  XL  of  the  clocke  in  the 
nyght,  therle  marshall  arested  hym  in  the  kynges  name:  and  for 
all  that  he  cryed  after  the  kynge,  yet  the  kynge  made  a  deafe  eare, 
and  rode  on  before,  and  so  the  same  nyght  the  kynge  laye  at  the 
tower  of  London,  but  the  duke  of  Gloucestre  was  otherwise  lodged, 
for  by  force  he  was  put  into  a  barge,  and  out  of  the  barge  into  a 
shyppe  that  laye  in  the  Thamise,  and  the  erle  marshall  with  hym 
and  all  his  company,  and  dyde  so  moche,  that  the  nexte  day  by 
night  they  came  to  Calais,  without  knoledge  of  any  man,  excepte 
the  kynges  offycers  of  the  sayd  towne.  .  .  ." 

Page  706.  "Whan  the  duke  of  Glocestre  was  brought  to  the 
castell  of  Calys,  than  he  feared  hymselfe  greatlye,  and  said  to  the 
erle  marshall:  For  what  cause  am  I  brought  out  of  Englande 
hyder  to  Calais?  Mythynke  ye  holde  me  as  a  prisoner:  lette  me 
go  abrode  and  se  the  fortresse  aboute.  Sir,  quod  the  marshall, 
that  ye  desyre  I  dare  nat  do  it,  for  I  haue  the  charge  ypon  you  on 


126         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

payne  of  my  lyfe:  the  kynge  my  souerayne  lorde  is  a  lytell  mys- 
content  with  you,  wherfore  ye  must  take  pacyence  here  for  a 
seasone,  tyll  I  here  other  newes,  and  that  shal  be  shortely  by 
goddes  grace ;  for  sir,  as  helpe  me  God,  I  am  right  sorie  for  your 
trouble  if  I  myght  remedy  it;  but  sir,  ye  knowe  well  I  am  sworne 
to  the  kynge,  wherfore  I  must  obey,  and  so  well  I  do,  for  sauynge 
of  myne  honoure.  The  duke  coude  haue  none  other  aunswere,  but 
by  that  he  sawe  he  feared  greatly  his  lyfe:  and  on  a  daye  he 
desyred  a  preest  and  sange  masse  before  hym,  that  he  myght  be 
confessed,  and  so  he  was  a  good  leysar  before  the  sacrament  with 
deuout  herte,  and  cryed  God  mercy  and  was  sore  repentant  of  all 
his  synnes;  and  in  dede  it  was  tyme  so  for  hym  so  to  do,  for  his 
dethe  was  nerer  to  hym  than  he  was  were  of;  for  as  I  was  en- 
fourmed,  whan  he  hadde  dyned  and  was  aboute  to  haue  wasshen 
his  handes,  there  came  into  the  chambre  foure  men  and  caste 
sodaynlye  a  towell  aboute  the  duke's  necke,  two  at  the  one  ende 
and  two  at  the  other,  and  drewe  so  sore  that  he  fell  to  the  erthe, 
and  so  they  strangled  hym  and  closed  his  eyen :  and  whan  he  was 
deed  they  dispoyled  him,  and  bare  hym  to  his  beed,  and  layde 
hym  bytwene  the  shetes  all  naked  and  his  heed  on  a  softe  pyllowe, 
and  couered  with  clothes  furred :  and  than  they  yssued  out  of  the 
chambre  into  the  hall,  well  determyned  what  they  wolde  save,  and 
sayde  openly,  howe  a  palueysye  hadde  taken  the  duke  of  Glou- 
cestre  the  same  night  sodaynly,  and  so  dyed." 

Scene  Two. 

Lancaster  and  York  take  arms  against  Richard  for  mur- 
dering Gloucester. 

Ber.,  II,  707.  (Gr.;  Hoi.)  "What  the  dethe  of  ye  duke  of 
Gloucestre  was  knowe  by  the  dukes  of  Lancastre  and  of  Yorke, 
incotinent  they  knewe  well  that  the  kynge  their  nephue  had 
caused  hym  to  be  slayne  and  murdered  at  Calays.  As  than  these 
two  dukes  were  nat  toguyder,  eche  of  the  were  at  their  owne 
places;  they  wrote  eche  to  other  to  knowe  what  were  best  to  do, 
and  so  they  came  to  London,  for  they  knewe  well  that  the  London- 
ers were  nat  content  with  the  dethe  of  the  duke  their  brother. 
Whan  they  mette  there  toguyder,  they  tooke  cousayle,  and  sayd: 


"  WOODSTOCK"  127 

Such  dedes  ought  nat  to  be  sufrred,  as  to  putte  to  dethe  so  hyghe 
a  price,  as  was  their  brother  for  yuell  wordes  and  false  reportes; 
for  they  sayd,  though  he  spake  oftentymes  of  the  breakyng  of  ye 
peace  yet  he  neuer  brake  it,  and  bytwene  sayenge  and  doyng  is 
great  difference,  for  by  reason  of  wordes  he  ought  nat  to  deserue 
dethe  by  such  cruell  punycion:  these  two  dukes  were  in  the  case 
to  haue  put  all  Englande  to  great  trouble,  and  there  were  ynowe 
redy  to  counsayle  thereto,  and  specially  them  of  the  erle  of 
Arundelles  lynage,  and  of  the  erle  of  Staffordes,  whiche  was  a 
great  kynred  in  Englande." 

Mourning  of  the  Duchess  of  Gloucester  and  her  appeal 
to  Lancaster  and  York  for  aid  (lines  45-61). 

Ber.,  II,  705.  "  Ye  maye  well  knowe  whane  the  takynge  of 
the  duke  was  knowen  at  Plasshey,  by  the  duchesse  and  her 
chyldren,  they  were  sore  troubled  and  abasshed,  and  thought  well 
that  the  matter  went  nat  well:  the  duchesse  demaunded  cousaile 
(what  was  best  to  do),  of  sir  Johan  Laquyham.  The  knight 
answered,  that  it  was  best  to  sende  to  his  bretherne,  the  dukes  of 
Lancastre  and  of  Yorke,  that  they  myght  fynde  some  meanes  to 
apeace  the  kinges  dyspleasure,  for  he  sayde  he  thought  that  the 
kyng  wolde  nat  displease  them.  The  duchesse  dyd  as  the  knyght 
counsayled  her,  and  she  sente  incontynent  messangers  to  these  two 
dukes,  who  were  farre  asondre,  who  whanne  they  herde  thereof 
were  sore  displeased,  and  sente  worde  agayne  to  the  duchesse  that 
she  shuld  be  of  good  coforte,  for  they  sayd  they  knew  well  the 
kyng  wolde  nat  entreat  hym  but  by  laufull  iudgement,  for  other- 
wise they  coude  nat  suffre  it;  but  as  thanne  they  knewe  natte 
where  he  was.  The  duchesse  and  her  chyldren  was  somewhat  con- 
formed with  their  answere." 

Scene  Three. 
Flight  of  Baggot. 

Hoi,  II,  852  ff.  (Gr.)  "The  lord  treasurer  Bushie,  Bagot, 
and  Greene,  perceiving  that  the  common  would  cleauve  vnto,  and 
take  part  with  the  duke,  slipped  awaie.  .  .  .  Bagot  got  him  to 


128         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Chester,  and  so  escaped  into  Ireland;  the  other  fled  to  the  castle 
of  Bristow,  in  hope  there  to  be  in  safetie." 

Tresilian  betrayed  by  his  servant. 

Ber.,  II,  285-287.  (Gr.  I,  456;  Hoi.,  taken  from  Grafton, 
Stow,  303.)  u  Therewith  this  sir  Robert  Tryuillyen  .  .  .  dis- 
guysed  in  maner  of  a  poore  marchaunt  .  .  .  came  to  London  .  .  . 
and  lerned  what  he  colde.  .  .  .  He  came  and  lodged  at  West- 
mynster.  at  last  on  a  day  a  squyer  of  the  duke  of  Gloucesters 
knewe  hym,  for  he  had  often  tymes  ben  in  his  company;  .  .  .: 
Therwith  the  squyer  entredde  into  the  house  where  Tryuylien 
was  .  .  .  and  toke  hym,  and  so  brought  hym  to  the  palays  .  .  . 
(p.  287).  sir  Robert  Triuylien  was  deyuered  to  the  hangman 
and  so  ledde  out  of  Westmynster,  and  there  beheeded,  and  after 
haged  on  a  gibet.     Thus  ended  sir  Robert  Triuylien." 

These  quotations  and  references  from  various  sources 
when  compared  with  the  text  of  the  play  will  reveal  how 
extensively  the  dramatist  garbled  his  history.  To  mention 
the  principal  anachronisms, — the  author  made  Tresilian 
chief  justice  at  a  time  when  the  Duke  of  Ireland  was 
Richard's  most  influential  favorite.  He  ascribed  the  death 
of  Tresilian  who  was  killed  by  Woodstock,  to  Lancaster 
after  Woodstock's  death;  he  turned  the  squire,  who  took 
Tresilian  prisoner,  into  Nobs,  a  Vice.  He  thrust  the  favor- 
ites of  Richard's  closing  year  Bushy,  Bagot,  and  Greene 
into  the  places  that  Ireland,  Burley,  and  others  were  then 
occupying.  He  had  Richard  dismiss  Arundel  as  well  as 
his  uncles  at  the  Westminster  Parliament,  but  did  not 
picture  Richard  as  immediately  ordering  his  execution.  He 
postponed  the  death  of  Queen  Anne,  until  just  before  the 
murder  of  Woodstock,  when  Richard  was  married  to  Queen 
Isabella.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  which  Lapoole,  Edward  or 
Michael  carried  out  the  King's  order  at  the  execution  of 
Woodstock,  although  both  were  in  Calais  at  that  time. 
Both  names  are  found  in  Grafton.     Edward  is  given  by 


"WOODSTOCK"  129 

Holinshed,  Michael  by  Froissart.  But  the  dramatist's 
greatest  innovation  lies  in  making  the  intriguing  and  sedi- 
tious Woodstock  of  Froissart  an  upright  man  and  an  inno- 
cent victim  of  Richard's  machinations. 

"  It  was  an  easy  taske  to  worke  on  hime : 
His  playneness  was  to  open  to  ther  view, 
He  feard  no  wrong,  because  his  harte  was  trew." 

In  addition  he  portrayed  Woodstock  as  continually  pacify- 
ing Lancaster  and  York,  when  the  Duke  was  actually  stirr- 
ing them  up  to  rebellion  against  Eichard.  He  added  an 
elaborate  Masque  to  Richard's  plot  for  taking  Woodstock; 
and  in  the  murder  scene,  although  he  kept  the  victim's 
prayer  and  confession  and  the  implements  of  the  assassina- 
tion (feather  beds  and  towels)  he  cut  down  the  number  of 
murderers  from  four  to  two  and  omitted  the  shriving  priest. 
To  heighten  the  effectiveness  of  the  scene,  he  added  two 
ghosts  and  thunder  and  lightning.  Finally  he  painted  the 
weakness  of  Richard  in  broader  colors  than  the  chronicles 
warranted,  and  added  numerous  comic  scenes  of  his  own 
creation. 

In  spite  of  these  divergencies,  his  indebtedness  to  Ber- 
ners'  translation,  not  only  for  details  of  characterization, 
but  also  for  many  of  his  principal  scenes,  is  clearly  evident, 
as  the  following  summary  shows : 

Act  One. 

Scene  2.  Richard  confers  special  appointments  upon  his  fa- 
vorites. 

Scene  3.  Lancaster  delegated  to  pacify  the  discontented  people. 
Act  Two. 

Scenes  1  and  2.  Appointment  of  Parliament  by  the  uncles. 
Details  of  the  Parliament  scene,  e.  g.  the  crowning  of  Richard 
(found  only  in  Froissart). 

Scene  3.    Weeping   Scene.     Characters   of   Duchesses   of  Ire- 
land and  of  Gloucester. 
10 


130         FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Act  Three. 

Scene  2.    York  and  Lancaster  influenced  by  Gloucester. 
Act  Four. 

Scene  2.     Capture  of  Gloucester. 
Act  Five. 

Scene  1.     Murder  of  Gloucester. 

Scene  2.     Mourning   of  the   Duchess   of   Gloucester,   and   her 
appeal  to  Lancaster  and  York  for  aid. 

From  this  evidence  we  may  conclude  that  the  writer  of 
Woodstock  must  have  read,  not  a  very  long  time  before,  a 
number  of  chronicles  of  Richard  II,  certainly  Berners,  and 
either  Holinshed,  or  Grafton.  The  meagre  citations  from 
Stow  indicate  scarcely  more  than  an  extremely  reminiscent 
knowledge  of  the  Annates.  It  is  hard  to  see  how  the 
chronicles  could  have  been  before  him  at  the  time  of  writ- 
ing, though  passages  from  each  one,  especially  from  Ber- 
ners '  Froissart  point  to  this  conclusion. 

The  play  however,  as  has  been  mentioned,  is  noteworthy 
rather  for  its  departures  from  historical  fact  and  for  its 
daring  praise  of  sedition.  Writers  of  the  chronicle  plays 
of  this  time  generally  followed  their  historical  sources  care- 
fully, and  often  strove  to  give  fairly  truthful  presentations. 
But  the  author  of  Woodstock  probably  from  some  demo- 
cratic sympathy,  garbled  his  history  with  the  express  inten- 
tion of  elevating  at  the  expense  of  royalty  the  character  of 
Woodstock  to  the  role  of  popular  hero.  Such  a  play  shows 
how  the  democratic  spirit,  greatly  obscured  by  the  aristo- 
cratic temper  of  the  age,  nevertheless  smoldered  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  occasionally  flamed  forth  through 
such  spokesmen  as  the  author  of  Woodstock. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


DANIEL'S  CIVIL  WAES 


In  1590,  after  making  the  most  of  a  little  Oxford  train- 
ing, Samuel  Daniel  joined  the  literary  coterie  headed  by 
Sir  Philip  Sidney's  sister,  Lady  Mary  Countess  of  Pem- 
broke. To  her  kindness  and  encouragement  Daniel  makes 
frequent  grateful  reference  in  the  dedications  of  his  literary 
works.  In  the  following  year,  Daniel  was  engaged  as  tutor 
to  William  Herbert,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  in  the  same 
year  Nashe  first  introduced  Daniel  to  the  reading  public  by 
surreptitiously  publishing  twenty-seven  of  his  love  sonnets. 
In  defense  Daniel  issued  in  1592  his  complete  sonnet  se- 
quence Delia  to  which  he  added  the  new  Complaynt  of 
Rosamund. 

In  October  1594,  his  First  Foure  Bookes  of  the  Civle 
Wars  were  entered  for  publication  on  the  Stationers'  Reg- 
ister, and  in  the  following  year  appeared  the  first  quarto. 
Another  quarto  adding  a  Fifth  Book  was  issued  in  1599. 
Some  of  the  copies  of  the  first  quarto  have  added  a  Fifth 
Book,  but,  as  Grosart  explains,  this  was  taken  from  the  edi- 
tion of  1599,  and  added  to  the  remaining  copies  of  the  1595 
quarto  prior  to  the  publication  of  the  1599  quarto.  Critics 
in  ignorance  of  this  fact,  and  noticing  two  differing  quartos 
dated  1595  have  repeatedly  stated  that  Daniel  made  two 
issues  in  that  year.1  The  1601  Folio  Edition  included  a 
sixth  and  seventh  book;  and  the  1609  quarto  an  eighth  book 
concluding  with  the  marriage  of  Edward  IV  and  Lady 

i  E.  G.  White  originated  this  theory,  which  is  followed  in  the  very 
misleading  article  on  Daniel  by  Lee  in  the  D.N.B. 

131 


132         PROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Grey.  The  whole  was  dedicated  to  the  Countess  of  Pem- 
broke. In  his  dedication  Daniel  said  that  he  hoped  to  con- 
tinue the  Civil  Wars  "unto  the  glorious  Union  of  Henry 
7,"  and  announced  his  intention  of  writing  a  prose  History 
of  England.  Although  he  never  completed  the  Civil  Wars, 
he  did  publish  successive  parts  of  the  prose  History  in  1612 
and  1617,  the  final  account  extending  from  the  beginning 
to  the  death  of  Edward  III.2  Daniel  modestly  stated  that 
this  prose  History  was  merely  a  "sewing  together"  of 
authorities.  But  he  drew  not  only  from  the  "common 
authorities,"  as  he  puts  it,  but  also  from  many  private 
manuscripts,  as  well  as  the  wealth  of  material  supplied  by 
his  distinguished  friends  William  Camden  and  Sir  Robert 
Cotton.  Grosart  states  that  Daniel's  "margins  show  that 
he  had  the  whole  available  literature  of  his  History  at  his 
command,  and  he  promised  an  Appendix  of  original  MS. 
documents  by  aid  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  Camden,  etc."3 

Evidence  is  not  wanting  to  show  that  Daniel  employed 
as  conscientious  a  method  in  preparation  for  the  Civil 
Wars  of  1594-5.  The  epic  shows  very  definite  traces  of 
consultation  of  several  chronicles.  Among  those  expressly 
mentioned  by  the  poet  are  Polydore  Vergil,  Froissart  and 
Hall.  Dr.  Albert  Probst  of  Strassburg  who  made,  in  1902, 
a  Quellenstudie  of  Daniel's  Civil  Wars,  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion (pp.  42-45)  that  Daniel  had  recourse  to  Hall,  Holins- 
hed,  and  Stow  for  the  first  two  books  and  to  Holinshed  and 
Hall  for  the  last  six  books  of  the  Civil  Wars.  As  Probst 
did  not  notice  Daniel's  two  references  to  Froissart, — one 
in  a  note  on  the  text  of  the  Civil  Wars,  and  one  in  the  pre- 
face to  the  prose  History,  he  confined  his  researches  to  Hall, 
Holinshed,  Grafton  and  Stow,  conjecturing  that  since 
Daniel  had  cited  these  authorities  in  the  preface  of  his  prose 

2  See  discussion  of  Daniel 's  History  in  Part  I,  chap.  3. 


DANIEL 'S    CIVIL  WARS  133 

History  1612-1618,  he  probably  drew  upon  them  for  the 
Civil  Wars  of  1594^5.  But  Daniel  included  in  this  list  not 
only  Hall,  Holinshed,  Grafton  and  Stow,  but  also  Frois- 
sart  and  a  number  of  other  authorities. 

These  two  independent  references  to  the  Froissart  chron- 
icle are  found  in  Grosart's  edition  of  Daniel  as  follows: 

1.  In  a  note  to  a  variant  reading  of  stanza  60,  Book  I  of 
the  first  Quarto  of  the  Civil  Wars  Daniel  writes : 

"Froissart,  Pol.  Virg.,  and  Hall  deliver  it  in  this  sort." 
(Gro.  II,  p.  34). 

2.  Again  in  the  preface  of  the  prose  History  Daniel  cites 
his  authorities  as  follows: 

"In  the  Lives  of  Edward  the  First,  Edward  the  Second 
and  Third:  Froissart  and  Walsingham  with  such  Collec- 
tions as  by  Polydore  Virgil,  Fabian,  Grafton,  Hall,  Hol- 
inshed, Stow  and  Speed  .  .  .  have  been  made  and  divulged 
to  the  world. ' ' 

It  is  doubtful  how  far  we  may  with  safety  rely  upon  this 
second  list  of  authorities  as  indicative  of  Daniel's  sources 
for  the  Civil  Wars;  but  an  independent  examination  of  the 
chronicles  justifies  Probst's  main  contentions  that  Graf- 
ton's Chronicle  contributed  nothing,  and  that  Holinshed 
and  Stow  provided  some  details  for  the  first  two  books.  It 
is  natural  to  expect,  however,  that  Daniel  would  draw 
largely  from  the  elaborate  accounts  of  Froissart  for  the 
reign  and  deposition  of  Richard  II.  Froissart 's  chronicle 
has  not  received  the  attention  in  this  connection  that  it 
deserves,  since  Daniel  expressly  mentions  him  in  relation 
to  his  epic.  The  following  comparison  of  the  Civil  Wars 
with  the  chronicles  reveals  Daniel's  method  of  treatment. 
He  seems  to  have  relied  mainly  upon  Berners'  Froissart, 
supplemented  with  Holinshed,  and  in  a  few  instances  with 


134        FROISSART  AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Stow.    To  verify  details  in  certain  places,  he  referred  also 
to  Vergil  and  Hall.4 

Froissart's  narrative  resembles  more  closely  the  first 
sixty  stanzas  of  Book  I,  than  any  other  chronicle.  Elabora- 
tions of  the  characters  of  Lancaster,  York,  and  especially 
Gloucester  (Stz.  25-32)  bear  out  this  relationship,  while 
the  speech  of  'Cont.  S.  Paule'  (Stz.  43-49)  is  an  adaptation 
of  Berners'  version.     Book  I,  stanza  25. 

Of  these,  John,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  was  one. 
Too  great  a  Subject  groune,  for  such  a  State. 
The  title  of  a  King,  what  he  had  done 
In  great  exploits  his  mind  did  eleuate 
Aboue  proportion  Kingdomes  stand  upon: 
Which  made  him  push  at  what  his  issue  gate. 

In  this  stanza  Daniel  refers  to  Froissart's  account  of 
Lancaster's  exploits  in  the  Spanish  kingdom,  and  his  mar- 
riage with  Constance  daughter  of  King  Peter.       (I.  437.) 

"...  Sir  Guysharde  Dangle  shewed  the  duke  sayeng  thus :  Sir, 
and  it  like  you,  ye  are  to  marry,  and  we  knowe  wher  is  a  great 
maryage  for  you,  wherby'you  and  your  heyre  shal  be  Kyng  of 
Castell  ...  he  was  well  content  .  .  .  and  he  maryd  the  eldest, 
called  Constance." 

"  The  other  Edmond  Langley,  whose  mild  sprite 
Affected  quiet  and  a  safe  delight." 

From  Berners  II,  643-4 : 

".  .  .  the  duke  of  Gloucestre,  uncle  to  the  Kynge  .  .  .  often 
tymes  spake  with  his  brother  the  duke  of  York,  and  drewe  hym 
as  moche  as  he  coulde  to  his  opynions,  for  he  was  but  a  softe 
prince.  .  .  ." 

For  the  character  of  Woodstock  (Duke  of  Gloucester)  in 
Stanzas  26-32,  cf.  selections  under  the  play  Woodstock. 

*  I  find  that  many  of  the  passages  quoted  by  Probst  from  Stow  are 
also  in  Holinshed,  so  that  the  influence  of  the  former  was  probably 
not  so  great  as  Probst  asserts  it  to  have  been. 


daniel's  civil  wars  135 

An  influence  of  the  play  Woodstock  upon  the  Civil  Wars 
might  be  conjectured  here ;  but  it  is  unlikely,  unless  Daniel 
witnessed  a  performance  of  Woodstock  in  the  theatre,  since 
no  quartos  of  the  play  were  issued.  Moreover,  the  play 
garbles  history  deliberately,  while  the  Civil  Wars  shows  a 
truth  to  history  based  upon  a  careful  reading  of  several 
chronicles. 

Stanzas  43-49.  Count  St.  Paul  heading  an  Embassy  to 
Eichard  from  Charles  of  France,  advises  Richard  to  dis- 
pose of  his  uncles.    Daniel  had  in  mind  Berners,  II,  687 : 

"  The  Kyng  of  England  spared  not  to  shewe  therle  of  saint 
Powle  the  state  that  England  stood  in,  and  howe  he  founde  al- 
wayes  his  uncle  the  duke  of  Gloucestre  harde  and  rebell  agaynst 
hym,  and  shewed  hym  all  thynge  yl  he  knewe.  When  theerle  of 
saynt  powle  herde  the  kynge  say  in  that  wyse  he  had  great  mar- 
uele  therof,  and  sayde  how  it  ought  nat  to  be  suffered,  and  sayd: 
syr,  if  ye  suffre  this,  they  wyll  dystroy  you;  it  is  sayd  in  France 
howe  the  duke  of  Gloucestre  entendeth  to  nothynge,  but  to  break 
the  peace  and  to  renewe  the  warre  agayne,  and  that  lytell  and  litell 
he  draweth  the  hertes  of  yonge  men  of  the  realme  to  his  parte,  for 
they  desyre  rather  warre  than  peace;  so  that  the  anncyent  wyse 
men,  if  the  war  beganne  to  styne,  they  shulde  nat  be  herde  nor 
belued,  for  reason,  right,  nor  iustyce  hath  no  place  nor  audyence 
where  as  yuell  reygneth  therefore  prouyde  therefore  rather  be- 
tymes  than  to  late;  it  were  better  ye  had  theym  in  daunger  than 
they  you.  .  .  ." 

Stanzas  59-75  describing  the  quarrel  between  Herford 
and  Mowbray  (also  treated  by  Shakespeare  in  Richard  II, 
Act  I)  as  Daniel  states,5  are  based  upon  Froissart.  Holins- 
hed's  differing  version,  which  Shakespeare  used,  makes 
Herford  the  accuser  and  Mowbray  the  defendant.  From 
stanza  75  to  the  end  of  Book  I  the  influence  of  Stow  and 
Holinshed  become  increasingly  apparent  especially  in  fur- 
nishing names,  e.  g.,  Greene,  Aumarle,  Milford,  etc. 

5  Note  to  Stanza  60  of  the  first  Quarto. 


136        FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

In  Booh  II  which,  like  the  Froissart  chronicle,  ends  with 
the  deposition  of  Richard,  Holinshed  and  Stow  continue 
supplementary  sources  as  far  as  stanza  61.  Here  Daniel 
introduces  the  episode  of  Queen  Isabel  and  Richard,  which, 
deservedly  famous  as  adapted  later  by  Shakespeare,  has 
generally  been  considered  pure  invention.  This  episode, 
by  far  the  most  beautiful  passage  in  the  whole  epic,  is  based 
upon  accounts  of  the  Queen  that  Daniel  found  in  Froissart. 
In  brief  outline  the  episode  depicts  the  state  of  Richard 
returning  from  his  fruitless  war  in  Ireland,  which  has 
depleted  his  forces  and  left  him  in  the  hands  of  the  banished 
Bolingbroke  unexpectedly  returned  from  France.  Enter- 
ing by  deception  Flint  Castle,  the  King's  stronghold, 
Bolingbroke  with  his  retinue  compels  Richard  to  accompany 
him  to  London.  Meanwhile  the  Queen  anxiously  awaits 
her  beloved  husband  without  a  suspicion  of  what  has  be- 
fallen him  in  Ireland.  She  eagerly  watches  the  army  ap- 
proaching and  her  heart  beats  for  joy  when  she  thinks  she 
sees  her  King  riding  upon  a  white  horse  among  his  glitter- 
ing troops.  How  great  her  grief  when  she  discovers  that 
the  leader  is  Henry  Bolingbroke ! 

II,  St.  69. 

"  And  f  oorth  shee  lookes,  and  notes  the  f  ormost  traine ; 
And  grieues  to  view  some  there  she  wisht  not  there : 
Seeing  the  chief e  not  come,  stayes,  lookes  againe ; 
And  yet  she  sees  not  him  that  should  appeare: 
Then  backe  she  stands,  and  then  desires  as  faine 
Againe  to  looke,  to  see  if  hee  were  neere : 
At  length  a  glittering  troupe  farre  off  she  spies, 
Perceiues  the  throng,  and  heares  the  shouts  and  cries, 

St.  70 
Lo,  yonder  now  at  length  he  comes,  sayeth  shee : 
Looke,  my  goode  women,  where  he  is  in  sight: 
Do  you  not  see  him  ?  yonder,  that  is  hee, 


137 


Mounted  on  that  white  courser,  all  in  white, 
There  where  the  thronging  troupes  of  people  bee: 
I  know  him  by  his  seat,  he  sits  upright : 
Lo,  now  he  bowes :  deare  Lord,  with  what  sweet  grace ! 
How  long  haue  I  longd  to  behold  that  face ! 

St.  71 

0  what  delight  my  hart  takes  by  mine  eye ! 

1  doubt  me,  when  he  comes  but  something  neere. 
I  shall  set  wide  the  window:  what  care  I 
Who  doth  see  me,  so  him  I  may  see  cleared 
Thus  doth  false  joy  delude  her  wrongfully 
(Sweete  Lady)  in  the  thing  she  held  so  deare, 
For  neere  come,  she  findes  she  had  mistooke 
And  him  she  markt,  was  Henry  Bullingbroke. 

Overcome  with  grief  Isabel  rushes  again  to  the  window 
and  sees  Richard  an  ignominious  prisoner  in  Bolingbroke 's 
train  being  led  past  toward  London.  She  learns  that  he  is 
to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  and  determines  to  visit  and 
comfort  him. 

Stz.  90 
"  Entring  the  chamber,  where  he  was  alone 
(As  one  whose  former  fortune  was  his  shame) 
Loathing  th'  obruding  eye  of  any  one 
That  knew  him  once,  and  knowes  him  not  the  same: 
When  hauing  given  expresse  command  that  none 
Should  presse  to  him;  yet  hearing  some  that  came 
Turns  angerly  about  his  grieued  eye: 
When,  lo,  his  sweete  afflicted  Queene  he  spyes. 

St.  91 
"  Straight  cleares  his  brow ;  and  with  a  borrowed  smile, 
What,  my  deare  Queene  ?  o  welcome,  deare,  he  saves ; 
And  (striuing  his  owne  passsion  to  beguile, 
And  hide  the  sorrow  which  his  eye  betrayes) 
Could  speake  no  more ;  but  wrings  her  hands,  the  while : 
And  then,  Sweet  Lady ;  and  againe  he  stayes : 


138        FROISSART  AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Th'  excesse  of  joy  and  sorrow  both  affordes 
Affliction  none,  or  but  poore  niggard  wordes. 

St.  92 
Shee  that  was  come  with  a  resolved  hart, 
And  with  a  mouth  full  stor'd,  with  wordes  well  chose; 
Thinking,  This  comfort  will  I  first  impart 
Unto  my  Lord,  and  thus  my  speech  dispose : 
Then  thus  He  say,  thus  looke,  and  with  this  art 
Hide  mine  owne  sorrow  to  relieue  his  woes; 
When  being  come,  all  this  prov'd  nought  but  winde; 
Teares,  lookes,  and  sighes,  as  only  tell  her  minde. 

St.  93 
Thus  both  stood  silent  and  confused  so, 
Their  eyes  relating  how  their  heartes  did  morne: 
Both  bigge  with  sorrow,  and  both  great  with  wo 
In  labour  with  what  was  not  to  be  borne : 
This  mightie  burthen,  wher  with  all  they  goe, 
Dies  undeliuered,  perishes  unborne; 
Sorrow  makes  silence  her  best  Orator, 
Where  words  may  made  it  lesse,  not  shew  it  more. 
But  he,  whom  longer  time  had  learn'd  the  art 
T'indure  affliction,  as  a  usuall  touch; 
Straines  foorth  his  wordes,  and  throwes  dismay  apart, 
To  rayse  up  her,  whose  passions  now  were  such 
As  quite  opprest  her  overcharged  hart. 
(Too  small  a  vessel  to  containe  so  much) 
And  cheeres  and  mones,  and  fained  hopes  doth  frame, 
As  if  himself  beleeu'd,  or  hop't  the  same." 

With  this  stanza  ends  the  episode,  nor  does  Daniel  allude 
to  the  Queen  again.  The  major  part  of  the  incident  has 
no  foundation  in  history.  There  is  no  authority  stating 
that  Isabel  and  Richard  ever  met  after  his  capture  by 
Bolingbroke.  Moreover  Isabel  at  that  time  was  eleven 
years  of  age.  Daniel  recognizing  the  difficulty  fully  apol- 
ogizes for  this  anachronism  in  his  prefatory  address  To  the 


daniel's  civil  waes  139 

Eeader,  affirming  however,  the  truth  of  his  epic  to  history 
in  all  other  respects: 

"And  if  I  haue  erred  somewhat  in  the  draught  of  the  young 
Q.  Isabel  (wife  of  Ric.  2)  in  not  suting  her  passions  to  her 
yeares:  I  must  craue  fauor  of  my  credulous  Readers;  and  hope 
the  young  Ladies  of  England  (who  peradventure  will  thinke  them- 
selves of  age  sufficient,  at  14  yeares  to  haue  a  feeling  of  their  own 
estates)  will  excuse  me  in  that  point.  For  the  rest,  setting  aside 
those  ornaments,  proper  to  this  kinde  of  writing,  I  haue  faith- 
fully obsuered  the  Historic" 

No  portrait  of  Queen  Isabel  is  given  in  the  English  chron- 
icles, and  only  in  Froissart  are  passages  found  that  refer 
to  her  character  and  life.  In  several  places  Froissart 
dwells  upon  the  charm,  beauty  and  dignity  of  the  child, 
who  was  only  eight  years  old  when  given  by  her  father 
Charles  of  France  into  Richard's  keeping. 

Ber.,  II,  625.  ".  .  .  they  sayde  she  was  but  a  yonge  chylde  of 
eyght  yere  of  age,  wherfore  they  sayd,  there  could  not  be  in  her 
no  great  wysdome  nor  prudence;  howbeit,  she  was  indoctryned 
well  ynough  and  that  the  lordes  founde  well  whan  they  sawe  her. 
The  Erie  Marshall,  beyng  on  his  knees,  sayde  to  her,  Fayre  lady, 
by  the  grace  of  god  ye  shall  be  our  lady  and  quene  of  Englande. 
Then  answered  the  yonge  lady  well  aduysedly,  without  counsayle 
of  any  other  persone:  Syr,  quod  she,  and  it  please  god  and  my 
lorde  my  father  that  I  shall  be  quene  of  Englande,  I  shall  be  glad 
thereof,  for  it  is  shewed  me  that  I  shall  be  then  a  great  lady. 
Than  she  toke  up  the  erle  Marshall  by  the  hande,  and  ledde  him 
to  the  quene  her  mother,  who  had  great  joy  of  the  answere  that 
she  had  made,  so  were  all  the  other  that  herde  it.  The  maner, 
countenance  and  behauoure  of  this  yonge  Ikidy  pleased  greatly  the 
Ambassadours,  and  they  sayd  amonge  themselfe,  that  she  was 
lykely  to  be  a  lady  of  hygh  honoure  and  great  goodness." 

P.  763 :  "  and  at  the  same  f  eest  the  kynge  ordayned  to  go  into 
Irelande,  to  enploy  his  men  in  that  voyage  and  so  he  departed, 
and  left  the  Quene  with  her  trayne  styll  at  Wyndsore.  .  .  /' 


140         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

From  such  hints  as  these  in  Froissart  Daniel  may  have 
derived  his  character  of  Queen  Isabel  which  Shakespeare 
later  adopted  and  elaborated. 

That  he  took  the  description  of  Bolingbroke 's  triumph- 
ant procession  from  Froissart  is  plain  for  such  details  as 
the  " glittering  troupe/'  and  Bolingbroke  on  a  "white 
courser,  all  in  white/ '  are  found  in  no  English  chronicle, 
but  occur  in  Berners  (II.  746).  I  quote  extracts  for  the 
whole  episode: 

"  Than  therle  sayd :  Sir,  I  se  none  other  remedy  but  to  yelde 
yourself e  as  my  prisoner;  and  whan  they  knowe  that  ye  be  my 
prisoner  they  wyll  do  you  no  hurte."  ...  p.  747. 

P.  747.  ".  .  .  As  soone  as  they  had  the  kynge  thus  in  their 
handes,  they  sent  notable  persones  to  the  yonge  quene,  who  was  at 
Ledes  in  Kent,  and  they  cal  to  the  lady  Coucy,  and  sayd  to  her, 
Madam,  make  you  redy,  for  ye  must  depart  hens;  and  at  your 
departying  make  no  semblent  of  displeasure  before  the  quene,  but 
saye  howe  your  husband  hath  sent  for  you.  .  .  ." 

(P.  747.)  ".  .  .  As  for  the  state  of  the  quene  was  so  tourned 
and  broken,  for  there  was  lefte  nouther  man,  woman,  nor  chyld 
of  ye  nacion  of  Frace,  nor  yet  of  Englande,  suche  as  were  in  any 
favor  with  the  kyng;  her  house  was  newly  furnisshed  with  ladyes 
and  damoselles,  and  other  offycers  and  seruantes;  they  were 
changed  all,  that  in  no  wyse  they  shuld  nat  speke  of  the  kynge, 
nat  one  to  another. 

(P.  747.)  "  Thus  the  duke  of  Laneastre  departed  fro  Chertsay, 
and  rode  to  Shene  and  fro,  thens  .  .  .  they  conueyed  the  Kyng  to 
the  towre  of  London  .  .  .; "  (p.  752)  .  .  .  and  than  the  duke  .  .  . 
departed  fro  Westmynster  and  rode  to  the  towre  of  London  with 
a  great  nombre.  .  .  .  Than  had  they  longe  cotes  with  strayte 
sleeves,  furred  with  mynyner  lyke  prelates,  with  whyte  laces 
hangynge  on  their  shulders "  ...  (p.  753)  .  .  .  "And  after  dyner 
the  duke  departed  fro  the  towre  to  Westmynster,  and  rode  all  the 
way  bareheeded,  and  aboute  his  necke  the  lyuery  of  Fraunce;  he 
was  acompanyed  with  ye  prince  his  sonne,  and  syxe  dukes,  syxe 


DANIEL *S    CIVIL  WARS  141 

erles,  and  XVIII  barons,  and  in  all,  knyghtes  and  squyers  a  nyne 
hundred  horse:  than  the  kynge  had  on  a  shorte  cote  of  clothe  of 
golde,  after  the  maner  of  Almayne,  and  he  was  mounted  on  a  whyte 
courser,  and  the  garter  on  his  left  legge." 

These  passages  from  Berners  remove  doubt  as  to  the  ulti- 
mate source  of  the  Isabel-Richard  episode.  How  skilfully 
Daniel  adapted  the  Froissart  material;  how  beautifully  he 
moulded  with  it  the  imagined  tragic  meeting  of  the  King 
and  Queen  has  already  been  set  forth. 

The  remaining  stanzas  of  Book  II  (i.  e.,  95-117)  dealing 
with  Richard's  deposition,  especially  the  details  of  his  royal 
garb  and  the  resignation  of  the  crown  with  his  own  hand 
(a  detail  that  Shakespeare  makes  much  of)  are  also  drawn 
from  Berners  II,  751-752. 

".  .  .  Than  Kynge  Rycharde  was  brought  into  the  hall,  apar- 
elled  lyke  a  kynge  in  his  robes  of  estate,  his  septer  in  his  hande, 
and  his  crowne  on  his  heed:  than  he  stode  up  alone,  nat  holden 
nor  stayed  by  no  man,  and  sayde  aloude:  I  haue  been  kynge  of 
Englande,  duke  of  Acquytany,  and  lorde  of  Irelande,  about  XXII 
yeres,  whiche  sygnory,  royalty,  cepter,  crowne,  and  herytage,  I 
clerely  resygne  here  to  my  cosyn  Henry  of  Lancastre:  and  I 
desyre  hym  here  in  this  open  presence,  in  entrynge  of  the  same 
possessyon,  to  take  this  septour:  and  so  delyuered  it  to  the  duke, 
who  toke  it.  Than  Kynge  Richarde  toke  the  crowne  fro  his  heed 
with  bothe  his  handes  and  set  it  before  hym,  and  sayd:  Fayre 
cosyn,  Henry  duke  of  Lancastre,  I  gyve  and  delyuer  you  this 
crowne,  wherwith  I  was  crowned  Kyng  of  Englande,  and  therwith 
all  the  right  therto  dependyng.  The  duke  of  Lancastre  tooke 
it.  .  .  ." 

The  chronicle  of  Froissart  comes  to  a  close  with  the  death 
of  Richard  II,  though  the  author  writes,  "howe  he  dyed, 
and  by  what  maner  I  coulde  nat  tell  whan  I  wrote  this 
cronycle." 

With  the  beginning  of  the  third  book  of  the  Civil  Wars 


142        FROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

comes  the  ascension  of  Henry  IV  and  the  murder  of  Rich- 
ard II  by  Exton,  details  that  the  beginning  of  Hall's  chron- 
icle provides. 

From  this  point  the  accounts  of  Berners  and  Stow  drop 
out  and  Hall  and  Holinshed  become  leading  sources — for  the 
remaining  books  of  the  poem,  III-VIII  (Cf.  Probst,  pp. 
16-45). 


CHAPTER  IX 

DANIEL'S  CIVIL  WAES  AND  SHAKESPEARE'S  BICHABD  II 

The  problem  of  assigning  a  date  to  Shakespeare's  Rich- 
ard II  involves  an  interesting  discussion  of  its  relation  to 
Daniel's  Civil  Wars.  The  similarity  between  the  two 
works  often  referred  to  by  editors  and  critics  of  Shake- 
speare, was  first  noted  by  Knight  in  his  Pictorial  edition  of 
the  plays.  On  the  evidence  of  certain  parallel  passages  he 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  Shakespeare  had  read  Daniel's 
epic  prior  to  writing  Richard  II.  Later  authorities,  how- 
ever, Delius,  White,  Clark- Wright,  Ward,  Rolfe,  Gollancz, 
agree  in  thinking  that  Daniel  and  not  Shakespeare  was  the 
borrower.  But  the  recent  discussions  of  Porter  and  of 
Craig  show  that  the  trend  of  opinion  is  now  in  the  other 
direction. 

Daniel's  First  Four  Books  of  the  Civil  Wars  was  entered 
on  the  Stationers'  Register  in  October,  1594,  and  Shake- 
speare's Richard  II  on  the  29th  of  August,  1597;  the 
former  appearing  in  quarto  in  1595,  and  the  latter  in  1597. 
With  regard  to  the  year  in  which  Shakespeare  wrote  the 
play,  two  traditions  have  become  firmly  established,  both 
of  which  are  unreliable, — one  originated  by  Malone,  the 
other  by  Richard  Grant  White.  Malone  stated  that  the 
play  was  written  in  1593,  though  in  former  editions  of  the 
same  essay,  he  had  assigned  1597,  dates  for  which  he 
offered  no  evidence.  Succeeding  critics,  Delius,  Clark- 
Wright,  Ward,  Sidney  Lee,  Gollancz,  Dowden  and  others 
have  accepted  Malone 's  early  date  and  endeavored  to  estab- 
lish it  by  internal  evidences  of  style  and  rhyme.     The  other 

143 


144         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

tradition,  begun  by  White,  and  accepted  by  Fleay,  Rolfe, 
and  others,  set  1595  as  an  absolute  date  for  the  play. 
From  a  comparison  of  an  original  quarto  of  the  Civil  Wars, 
to  which  he  had  access,  with  Knight's  passages,  White  con- 
cluded that  Daniel  issued  two  quartos  of  the  epic  in  1595, 
making  certain  alterations  in  the  second  quarto  to  agree 
with  Shakespeare's  Richard  II,  which  had  meanwhile  ap- 
peared. But  as  Grosart  notes,  and  as  Miss  Charlotte  Por- 
ter has  further  explained,1  there  were  not  two  different 
quartos  of  1595,  but  only  one  issue,  and  assignments  of  date 
based  on  supposition  are  therefore  false. 

Knight  believing  Shakespeare  the  debtor,  held  that  he 
wrote  Richard  II  after  1595  and  shortly  before  1597.  There 
seems  to  be  no  good  reason  for  disagreeing  with  Knight's 
date  1595-7,  since  all  the  external  evidence  harmonizes  with 
this  conclusion.  The  Civil  Wars  appeared  in  1595,  having 
been  entered  on  the  Stationers'  Register  in  the  preceding 
year,  and  Shakespeare's  Richard  II  appeared  both  on  the 
Register  and  in  quarto  in  1597;  hence  if  Shakespere's  play, 
as  all  external  evidences  point,  was  first  acted  any  time  in 
1595,  it  is  clear  that  he  borrowed  from  Daniel.  Moreover, 
it  is  likely  that  Daniel's  Civil  Wars  was  circulated  among 
his  friends  in  manuscript  before  being  placed  on  the  Reg- 
ister in  1594. 

The  only  internal  evidences  in  favor  of  Malone's  conjec- 
tural date  1593,  are  those  of  style  and  rhyme;  "but  rhyme 
is  a  conscious  element  in  composition;  it  may  have  been 
due  to  reaction,  or  to  some  passing  literary  influence.  The 
other  metrical  tests  offer  no  obstacles  to  so  late  an  assign- 
ment; but  are  in  fact  confirmatory.  It  is  to  be  noted  that 
rhyme  militates  against  the  speech-ending  test,  and  that 
though  Richard  II  is  not  high  in  feminine  endings  (11  per 

i  First  Folio  Edition  Richard  II,  Crowell,  1903-10,  pp.  xv-xvii; 
125-6. 


AND   "RICHARD   II "  145 

cent.)  it  has  a  full  number  of  feminine  mid-line  syllables. 
It  is  also  true  that  Richard  II  has  a  great  many  verbal  con- 
ceits, puns,  epigrams,  and  rhetorical  figures,  things  charac- 
teristic of  Shakespeare's  early  work.  This  kind  of  lan- 
guage is,  however,  put  mainly  into  the  mouths  of  Richard 
and  of  Gaunt,  as  if  with  the  conscious  purpose  of  charac- 
terization. ' '2  Moreover,  there  seems  to  be  very  good  reasons 
for  agreeing  with  Knight,  Craig  and  others  that  Shake- 
speare, and  not  Daniel  was  the  borrower.  It  is  extremely 
unlikely  that  Shakespeare,  contemplating  his  history  cycle, 
should  not  have  read  a  poem  on  the  same  subject  written 
by  a  recognized  poet  who  was  befriended  by  Southampton ; 
who  was  engaged  as  tutor  in  the  Pembroke  family,  and  who 
was  probably  his  own  friend.  Although  it  is  a  common- 
place that  Shakespeare  followed  Holinshed  with  surprising 
fidelity,3  the  points  in  common  between  the  Civil  Wars  and 
the  play,  which  differ  from  any  known  chronicle,  are  too 
obvious  and  numerous  to  be  swept  aside  as  inconsequential, 
or  as  mere  coincidence.  Probst4  and  others  have  revealed 
the  indebtedness  of  Henry  IV,  1  and  2  to  Daniel's  epic, 
and  "Richard  II  bears  the  same  relationship  to  the  Civil 
Wars  that  1  and  2  Henry  TV  do;  the  resemblances  are  of 
precisely  the  same  sort,  and  they  are  quite  as  close  and  as 
numerous. ' ' 

Of  even  more  striking  effect  than  these  evidences  are  the 
numerous  parallels  between  Daniel  and  Shakespeare,  not 
only  in  verbal  similarity,  but  principally  in  character  and 
in  situations  for  which  the  English  chronicler  offers  no 
authority. 

2  For  the  quotations  above  I  am  indebted  to  the  excellent  summary 
by  Prof.  Hardin  Craig,  Eichard  II.  Tudor  Shakespeare,  Macmillan, 
1912.     (Introd.,  viii-ix.) 

3  Boswell-Stone :   Shakespeare 's  Holinshed. 
*  Probst,  pp.  71-4. 

11 


146         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE    PLAY 

1.  Both  Shakespeare  and  Daniel  give  identical  reasons 
why  Richard  banished  Herford;  viz,  for  fear  of  Boling- 
broke  's  popularity  with  the  common  people. 

Daniel,  I,  St.  63. 

For  now  considering  (as  it  likely  might) 
The  victories  should  hap  on  Herford's  side 
(A  man  most  valiant  and  of  noble  sprite, 
Belou'd  of  all,  and  euer  worthy  tri'd) 
How  much  he  might  be  grac't  in  publique  sight, 
By  such  an  act,  as  might  advance  his  pride, 
And  so  become  more  popular  by  this; 
Which  he  feared,  too  much  he  already  is. 
And  therefore  he  resolues  to  banish  both. 

Shakespeare,  I,  4,  233  ff 

Ourself  and  Bushy,  Bagot  here  and  Green 
Observed  his  courtship  to  the  common  people: 
How  he  did  seem  to  dive  into  their  hearts 
With  humble  and  familiar  courtesy, 
What  reverence  he  did  throw  away  on  slaves, 
Wooing  poor  craftsmen  with  the  craft  of  smiles 
And  patient  underbearing  of  his  fortune, 
As  'twere  to  banish  their  affects  with  him. 

Daniel's  source  for  this  motive  was  Berners'  II,  p.  715: 

".  .  .  and,  sir,  knowe  for  certayne,  that  if  ye  suffre  these  two 
Erles  to  come  into  the  place  to  do  batayle,  ye  shall  not  be  lorde 
of  the  felde,  but  the  Londoners  and  suche  lordes  of  their  parte 
wyll  rule  the  felde,  for  the  loue  and  fauoure  that  they  beare  to 
the  erle  of  Derby;  and  the  erle  Marshall  is  soore  hated,  and 
specially  the  Londoners  would  he  were  slayne;" 

2.  Both  poets  introduce  the  Queen  as  a  mature  woman, 
who  according  to  the  chronicles  was  eleven  years  of  age. 
Daniel,  as  has  already  been  noted,  offered  an  elaborate 
apology  for  this  anachronism,  a  fact  which  certainly  goes 
far  as  evidence  that  he  was  the  originator,  for  what  could 


AND   "  RICHARD   n"  147 

be  the  point  of  his  apology,  if  Shakespeare  had  recently- 
preceded  him  in  exhibiting  on  the  stage  precisely  the  same 
thing?  The  original  of  Queen  Isabel  then  is  Daniel's 
adaptation  of  Froissart,  for  evidence  is  yet  wanting  to 
prove  that  Shakespeare  had  access  to  Froissart  for  any  one 
of  his  chronicle  plays.  Moreover,  Shakespeare's  charac- 
terization is  the  enlarged  and  modified  portrait  of  Daniel's. 
The  drawing  is  deeper  and  more  subtle.  In  the  Civil  Wars 
the  Queen  appears  but  once,  in  Richard  II,  three  times; 
and  Shakespeare  heightens  the  portrayal  by  the  noteworthy 
scene  between  the  Queen  and  the  Gardner.  As  Miss  Por- 
ter notes : 

a  She  is  made  dramatically  useful  in  foreshadowing  evil  to 
Richard,  vaguely  to  begin  with  (II,  i) ;  then  with  a  shrewd  and 
bitter  particularity5  (III,  iv) ;  finally,  the  Poet  influences  through 
her  an  increasing  sympathy  for  Richard.  .  .  ."  "  If  Daniel  bor- 
rowed from  Shakespeare  here,  it  was  stupid  in  him  not  to  borrow 
more,  and  equivocal,  moreover,  to  apologize  for  introducing  Isabel, 
as  he  did,  in  his  Preface  without  any  admission  of  his  indebted- 
ness."6 

3.  The  descriptions  of  the  triumphant  Bolingbroke  lead- 
ing the  despised  and  neglected  Richard  captive,  through  the 
Londoners,  and  past  Queen  Isabel,  are  strikingly  parallel. 
For  this  picture,  there  is  no  historical  source  in  the  English 
chronicles.  In  Froissart  Bolingbroke  leads  Richard)  to 
London  and  the  Tower  in  the  night  to  avoid  the  people. 
I  quote  the  entire  episode  as  it  appears  first  in  Daniel  and 
later  in  Shakespeare. 

Daniel,  II,  61  ff. 

Straight  towards  London  in  the  heate  of  pride, 
The  Duke  sets  forward  as  they  had  decreed 

5  Daniel 's  Queen  exhibited  sweetness  and  resignation,  and  no  bit- 
terness. 

6  First  Folio,  pp.  xvi-xvii. 


148         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

With  whom,  the  captive  King  constrained  must  ride 

Most  meanly  mounted  on  a  simple  steed : 

Degraded  of  all  grace  and  ease  beside, 

Thereby  neglect  of  all  respect  to  breed 

For,  th  'ouer-spreading  pompe  of  prouder  might 

Must  darken  weakness,  and  debase  his  sight. 

62. 
Approaching  neere  the  Cittie,  hee  was  met 
With  all  the  sumptuous  shewe  joy  could  devise 
Where  new-desire  to  please  did  not  forget 
To  passe  the  usuall  pompe  of  former  guise 
Striuing  applause,  as  out  of  prison  let, 
Runnes-on,  beyond  all  bounds  to  nouelties 
And  voyce,  and  hands,  and  knees,  and  all  do  now 
A  strange  deformed  forme  of  welcome  showe 

63. 
And  manifold  Confusion  running  greetes, 
Shootes,  cries,  claps  hands,  thrusts,  striues  and  presses  near, 
Houses  improv'risht  were,  t'inrich  the  streetes, 
And  streetes  left  naked,  that  unhappie  were 
Placet  from  the  sight  where  Joy  with  Wonder  meetes; 
Where  all,  of  all  degrees,  striue  to  appeare; 
Where  diuers-speaking  Zeale  one  murmure  findes, 
In  vndistinguisht  voyce  to  tell  their  mindes. 

64. 
He  that  in  gloire  of  his  fortune  date, 
Admiring  what  hee  thought  could  neuer  be, 
Did  feel  his  blood  within  salute  his  state, 
And  lift  vp  his  reiocying  soule,  to  see 
So  many  hands  and  hearts  congratulate 
Th'  advancement  of  his  long-desir'd  degree; 
When,  prodigall  of  thankes,  in  passing  by, 
He  resalutes  them  all,  with  chearefull  eye. 

65. 
Behind  him,  all  aloofe,  came  pensive  on 
The  unregarded  King;  that  drooping  went 


AND   ''RICHARD   II "  149 

Alone,  and  (but  for  spight)  scarce  lookt  upon: 
Iudge,  if  hee  did  more  enuie,  or  lament 
See  what  a  wondrous  work  this  day  is  done 
Which  th'  image  of  both  fortunes  doth  present: 
In  th'  one,  to  shew  the  best  of  glories  face ; 
In  the  other,  worse  than  worst  of  all  disgrace." 

Richard,  II  (V,  2). 

"  Duch.    At  that  sad  Stoppe  my  Lord, 
Where  rude  mis-govern'd  hands,  from  Windowes  tops, 
Threw  dust  and  rubbish  on  King  Richard's  head. 

Yorke.     Then,  as  I  said,  the  Duke,  great  Bullingbrooke, 
Mounted  upon  a  hot  and  fierie  Steed, 
With  his  aspiring  Rider  seem'd  to  know, 
With  slow,  but  stately  pace,  kept  on  his  course : 
Whilst  all  tongues  cride,  god  save  thee  Bullingbrooke, 
You  would  have  thought  the  very  windowes  spake, 
So  many  greedy  lookes  of  yong  and  old, 
Through  Casements  darted  their  desiring  eyes 
Upon  his  visage:  and  that  all  the  walled, 
With  painted  Imagery  had  said  at  once, 
Jesus  preserve  thee,  welcom  Bullingbrooke. 
WhiPst  he,  from  the  one  side  to  the  other  turning, 
Bare-headed,  lower  then  his  proud  Steedes  necke, 
Bespake  them  thus :  I  thanke  you  Countrimen : 
And  thus  still  doing,  thus  he  past  along. 

Butch.     Alack  poore  Richard,  where  rode  he  the  whil'st? 

Yorke.    As  in  a  Theater,  the  eyes  of  men 

After  a  well  graced  Actor  leaves  the  Stage, 

Are  idley  bent  on  him  that  enters  next, 

Thinking  his  prattle  to  be  tedious : 

Even  so,  or  with  more  contempt,  mens  eyes 

Did  scowle  on  gentle  Richard;  no  man  criede,  God  save  him : 

No  joyfull  tongue  gave  him  his  welcome  home, 

But  dust  was  throwne  upon  his  Sacred  head, 

Which  with  such  gentle  sorrow  he  shooke  off. 


150        FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

His  face  still  combating  with  teares  and  smiles 
That  had  not  god  (for  some  strong  purpose)  steel' d 
(The  badges  of  his  greefe  and  patience) 
The  hearts  of  men,  they  must  perforce  have  melted, 
And  Barbarisme  it  selfe  have  pittied  him." 

4.  After  the  scene  in  the  streets,  both  poets  portray  a 
tragic  meeting  between  Richard  and  Isabel: 

Act  IV 
CM.  (II,  66&.). 
"  Now  I  sab  ell,  the  young  afflicted  Queene 
(Whose  yeares  had  neuer  shew'd  her  but  delights, 
Nor  louely  eyes  before  had  euer  seene 
Other  then  smiling  ioyes,  and  ioyfull  sights; 
Borne  great,  matcht  great,  liv'd  great,  and  euer  beene 
Partaker  of  the  world's  best  benefits) 
Had  plac't  her  selfe,  hearing  her  Lord  should  passe 
That  way,  where  she  unseene  in  secret  was; 
Sick  of  delay,  and  longing  to  behold 
Her  long-mist  Loue  .  .  . 
At  last,  her  loue-quick  eyes  .  .  . 
Fastens  on  one ;  whom  though  she  neuer  tooke 
Could  be  her  Lord ;  yet  that  sad  cheere  which  hee 
Then  shew'd,  his  habit  and  his  woful  looke, 
The  grace  he  doth  in  base  attire  retains: 
Caus'd  her  she  could  not  from  his  sight  refraine. 

Yet  god  forbid;  let  me  deceived  be, 

And  be  in  not  my  Lord,  although  it  may 

Let  me  not  see  him,  but  himself e ;  a  King : 

For  so  he  left  me;  so  he  did  remoue. 

This  is  not  he:  this  feeles  some  other  Thing." 

Rich.  II,  V: 
"  This  way  the  King  will  come ;  this  is  the  way 
To  Julius  Caesar's  ill-erected  Tower: 
To  whose  flint  Bosome,  my  condemned  Lord 


"CIVIL  WARS"   AND   "RICHARD   II "  151 

Is  doomed  a  Prisoner,  by  proud  Bullingbroke 
Enter  Richard,   and   Guard 

But  softe,  but  see,  or  rather  doe  not  see, 

My  faire  Rose  wither;  yet  looke  up:  behold' 

That  you  in  pittie  may  dissolve  to  dew, 

And  wash  him  fresh  againe  with  true-love  Teares, 

Ah,  thou,  the  Modell  where  old  Troy  did  stand, 

Thou  Mappe  of  Honor,  thou  King  Richard's  Tombe, 

And  not  King  Richard.  ..." 

5.  In  both  poems  Bolingbroke  courts  the  favor  of  the 
common  people,  and  his  growing  power  is  described  by 
Daniel  thus: 

C.W.  (II,  i). 

All  turn'd  their  faces  to  the  rising  sunne 

And  leaue  his  setting-fortune  night  begunne. 

by  Shakespeare: 

Richard  II  (III,  2,  217  ff.)  : 

Discharge  my  followers;  let  them  hence  away, 

From  Richard's  night  to  Bolingbroke's  fair  day. 

6.  Similar  portents  in  the  heavens. 

C.W.   (I,  113-114)  : 
"  Amazing  Comets,  threatning  Monarchs  might, 
And  new-scene  Starres,  unknown  unto  the  night, 
Red  fiere  Dragons  in  the  ayre  do  flye, 
And  burning  Meteors,  pointed-streaming  lightes: 
Bright  Starres  in  midst  of  day  appeare  in  skie." 

Rich.  II  (II,  iv,  9-10)  : 
"  And  Meteors  fright  the  fixed  Starres  of  Heaven ; 
And  pale-fac'd  Moone  lookes  bloody  on  the  Earth." 

also  C.W.  (I.  118)  : 

"  Th'ungodly  blood-shed  that  did  so  defile 
The  beautie  of  thy  fields,  and  euen  did  marre 
The  flowre  of  thy  chief e  pride,  thou  fairest  He:" 


152        FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Rich.  II  (III,  iii,  97)  : 

Ten  thousand  bloody  erownes  of  Mother's  sonnes 

Shall  ill  become  the  flower  of  England's  face. 

7.  Daniel  calls  Henry  by  the  familiar  name  Bullingbroke 
(I,  8)  and  spells  the  title  Her  ford,  not  Hereford  as  in 
Holinshed.  Shakespeare  adopts  the  same  name,  and  writes 
Bullingbroke  which  is  not  in  Holinshed,  and  spells  Herford 
after  Daniel. 

8.  In  the  two  deposition  scenes,  Richard  delivers  the 
crown  to  Bolingbroke  with  his  own  hand. 

C.W.  (II,  112)  from  Berners  II,  p.  752. 

"  Tis  said,  with  his  owne  hand  he  gaue  the  Crowne  " 

Bick.II  (IV,  i,  210): 

"With  mine  owne  Hands  I  give  away  my  Crowne." 

9.  After  Bolingbroke  has  ascended  the  throne,  the  coun- 
ter-plotters to  restore  Richard  swear  in  both  poems  by  the 
Sacrament. 

C.W.  (Ill,  35) : 
u  A  solemne  oath  religiously  they  take 
By  intermutuall  vowes  protesting  there, 
This  neuer  to  reveale :  nor  to  forsake 
So  good  a  Cause,  for  danger,  hope  or  feare: 
The  Sacrament,  the  pledge  of  faith,  they  take:" 

Rich.  II  (IV,  1,  332-3) : 

Abbot.    "Before  I  freely  speake  my  minde  herein, 

You  shall  not  onely  take  the  Sacrament." 

10.  Bolingbroke  in  each  case  gives  identical  hints  for  the 
murder  of  Richard. 


AND   "RICHARD   II "  153 


C.W.  (Ill,  57)  : 


"  And  wisht  that  some  would  so  his  life  esteeme, 
As  ridde  him  of  these  feares  wherin  he  stood." 

Rich.  II  (V,  iv)  : 

"  Have  I  no  friend  will  rid  me  of  this  living  f eare." 

11.  In  both  versions  just  before  his  death  Richard  en- 
gages in  a  soliloquy  comparing  and  contrasting  the  state 
of  the  King  and  of  a  lowly  man,  cf.  C.W.  (Ill,  65-69) ; 
Hick.  II  (V,  v)  ;  and  in  both  a  servant  rushes  in  with  news 
from  the  court,  followed  instantly  by  Exton  with  his  mur- 
derers.     C.W.  (Ill,  70)  ;  Rich.  II  (V,  v,  69  ff.)  : 

12.  Finally  Exton  is  cast  off  by  Bolingbroke  for  the 
deed;  nor  will  the  new  king  assume  any  responsibility. 
Shakespeare  must  have  taken  this  from  C.W.  (Ill,  78-79)  : 

"  So  f oule  a  deed  ?    where  is  thy  grace  in  Corte, 
For  such  a  seruice,  acted  in  the  sort? 
First,  he  for  whom  thou  dost  this  villanie 
(Though  pleas'd  therewith)  will  not  avouch  thy  fact. 
But  let  the  weight  of  thine  owne  infamie 
Fall  on  thee,  unsupported,  and  unbakt : " 

Rich  II  (Last  speech  in  the  play) 

Bui.    I  thank  thee  not,  for  thou  has  wrought 
a  deed  of  Slaughter,  with  thy  fatall  hand, 
Upon  my  head,  and  all  this  famous  Land. 

Ex.     From  your  owne  mouth  my  Lord,  did  I  this  deed. 

Bui.     They  love  not  poyson,  that  do  poyson  neede 
Nor  do  I  thee,  though  I  did  wish  him  dead. 
I  hate  the  murtherer,  love  him  murthered. 
The  guilt  of  conscience  take  thou  for  thy  labour. 

With  the  evidence  of  these  twelve  parallels  of  varying 
weight  and  value,  differing  from  the  chronicle  sources;  and 


154         FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH    CHRONICLE   PLAY 

with  the  strong  external  evidence  in  favor  of  Daniel's  pri- 
ority and  of  his  consultation  of  Berners'  Froissart,  it 
would  seem  hazardous  and  difficult  still  to  maintain  that 
Shakespeare  did  not  have  access  to  the  Civil  Wars  shortly 
before,  or  while  writing  Richard  II.  Note  should  also  be 
taken  of  the  perfect  connection  between  Richard  II  and 
Henry  IV,  Part  I ;  the  former  ending  and  the  latter  begin- 
ning with  mention  of  the  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land. 
There  seems  little  reason,  then,  why  Richard  II  should  be 
assigned  to  a  date  prior  to  1595.  The  close  relation  of 
many  scenes  to  the  later  plays  of  the  chronicle  group,  and 
"the  perfect  harmony  with  them  in  underlying  ideas" 
seems  to  show  that  the  play  was  written  not  four  years  be- 
fore its  publication,  but  shortly  before  its  appearance  in 
the  Quarto  of  1597.  If  such  is  the  case,  Shakespeare,  be- 
ginning with  Eichard's  life  where  the  anonymous  author 
of  Woodstock  had  left  it,  employed  the  Chronicles  of  Hol- 
inshed  and  the  Civil  Wars  of  Daniel  for  his  Tragedy  of 
Richard  II,  drawing  from  Daniel  what  Daniel  had  derived 
from  Froissart  and  elaborated. 

Daniel,  Shakespeare  and  Drayton 

No  writer  of  the  period  was  a  greater  imitator  of  preced- 
ing literary  successes  than  Michael  Drayton  (unless  it  be 
Shakespeare).  The  conception  of  his  Shepherd's  Garland 
he  derived  from  Spenser's  Shepherd's  Calendar;  his  Endi- 
mion  and  Phoebe  from  Marlowe's  Hero  and  Leander;  his 
Legend  of  Piers  Gaveston  (1593-4)  and  his  Barons'  Wars 
(1596)  from  Marlowe's  Edward  II.  Drayton  issued  the 
Barons'  Wars  to  rival  Daniel's  Civil  Wars,  since  he 
deemed  that  his  contemporary  was  "too  much  historian  in 
verse."  The  poem  dealing  principally  with  the  trouble- 
some reign  of  Edward  II,  enters  our  period  of  discussion 


BICHAED   II "  155 

with  the  last  years  of  Edward  II  and  the  early  years  of 
Edward  III,  both  of  which  Froissart  briefly  narrates  in 
the  first  chapters  of  his  Chronicle.  Dr.  Probst,  who  has 
made  a  careful  comparison  of  the  chronicles  of  Fabian, 
Vergil,  Holinshed  and  Froissart  with  reference  to  Dray- 
ton's epic,  has  demonstrated  that  the  poet  followed  Holins- 
hed closely  with  perhaps  a  consultation  now  and  then  of 
Fabian;  but  with  no  reference  to  Vergil  and  Froissart. 
Concerning  Froissart,  Probst  states  (pp.  62-63)  : 

"  Die  f  ranzosische  Chronik  von  Jean  Froissart  bot  auch  in  ihren 
spater  ausserordentlich  ausfiihrlichen  Berichten  unserem  Dichter 
flir  die  Zeit,  welche  er  in  seinem  Epos  behandelte,  eigentlich  gar 
nichts.  Das  Interesse  des  franzosischen  Chronisten  is  weit  mehr 
auf  die  Geschichte  seines  Vaterlandes  und  auf  die  Vorgange  in 
Frankreieh  gerichtet,  als  auf  das,  was  sich  in  England  ereignet 
hat  wovon  er  in  den  meisten  Fallen  nicht  einmal  genaue  Kenntnis 
hat.  Er  beginnt  iiberhaupt  erst  dann  ausfiihrlicher  zu  erzahlen, 
als  eine  innigere  Beriihrung  englischer  und  franzosischer  Verhalt- 
nisse  dadureh  stattfand,  dass  ein  franzosischer  Edelmann  eingriff 
in  die  Geschicke  des  englischen  Konighauses,  als  Hainault  mit 
seinen  Truppen  die  Konigin  Isabella  unterstiitzte,  den  englischen 
Thron  fur  sich  und  den  jungen  Prinzen  von  Wales  weider  zu 
gewinnen.  Aber  auch  dann  konnten  die  Ausfiihrungen  des  fran- 
zosischen Chronisten  fiir  den  englischen  Dichter  keine  grosse  Be- 
deutung  erlangen,  denn  bei  dem  ganzen  Berichte  des  Franzosen 
iiber  die  letzten  Regierungsjahre  Edward's  II.  und  die  ersten  Jahre 
Edward's  III.  hat  dieser  in  erster  Linie  die  Geschicke  Hainault's 
und  seiner  franzosischen  Truppen  im  Auge." 

Probst  also  shows  the  strong  influence  that  Marlowe's 
Edward  II  exerted  upon  the  Barons'  Wars, — principally 
in  the  conception  of  the  character  of  Mortimer  (pp.  84  ff.). 
The  last  version  of  the  triumph  of  Bolingbroke,  the  con- 
sequent disgrace  of  King  Richard,  and  his  tragic  meeting 
with  Queen  Isabel  was  given  to  Elizabethan  literature  by 


156        PROISSART   AND   THE  ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Michael  Drayton  who  probably  wrote  in  emulation  of  his 
rivals  Daniel  and  Shakespeare.  On  October  12,  1597, 
Drayton's  England7 s  Heroicall  Epistles  was  entered  upon 
the  Stationers'  Register.  This  work  contains  two  fare- 
well epistles  from  Queen  Isabel  to  Richard  and  from  Rich- 
ard to  Queen  Isabel,  briefly  rehearsing  in  smooth  couplets 
with  fine  lyrical  and  elegiac  feeling,  the  same  episode  that 
Daniel  had  conceived  and  Shakespeare  had  elaborated. 

A  comparison  of  Drayton's  epistles  with  the  Civil  Wars 
and  Richard  II  would  seem  to  show  that  although  Drayton 
knew  Daniel's  episode,  he  chose  to  follow  Shakespeare's 
enlarged  version,  which  had  been  entered  upon  the  Sta- 
tioners Register  only  a  month  and  a  half  before  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  August.  Practically  in  all  respects  these 
two  epistles  resemble  Shakespeare's  details,  even  to  the 
extent  of  spelling  the  proper  names  identically  as  Shake- 
speare had  done  before  him;  nor  would  the  prose  Notes 
of  the  Chronicle  history,  which  Drayton  added  after  each 
epistle,  indicate  that  he  had  made  careful  consultation  of 
chronicle  sources  after  the  more  conscientious  method  of 
Daniel. 


Thus  the  chronicle  of  Froissart  through  the  medium  of 
Berners'  translation  contributed  greatly  to  the  story  of 
Richard  II,  as  portrayed  by  Elizabethan  poets  and  dram- 
atists. By  way  of  Grafton's  chronicle  the  translation  fur- 
nished the  plot  of  the  play  Jack  Straw,  and  gave  directly 
to  Woodstock  the  character  of  its  protagonist  as  well  as 
other  characters  and  principal  scenes.  It  likewise  fur- 
nished Samuel  Daniel  with  much  of  his  story  in  the  first 
books  of  the  Civil  Wars  and  gave  him  hints  for  his  fanciful 
episode  of  Richard  and  Queen  Isabel  and  the  triumphant 
procession  of  Bolingbroke.     Finally  Shakespeare  derived 


AND    "RICHARD   II "  157 

that  part  of  Richard  II  which  he  did  not  take  from  Holins- 
hed,  from  Berners'  Froissart  as  it  came  through  the  medium 
of  Daniel's  Civil  Wars;  and  Drayton  in  turn  followed 
Shakespeare's  version  of  the  same  story  for  two  of  his 
England's  Heroicall  Epistles.7 

7  It  is  probable  that  The  Conquest  of  Spain  by  John  of  Gaunt 
entered  S.E.  1594,  and  listed  in  Henslowe's  Diary,  was  also  derived 
from  Berners '  Froissart,  whose  account  of  the  expedition  covers  over 
four  folio  pages;  while  the  English  Chronicles  devote  summary 
paragraphs. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  following  bibliography  includes  the  principal  works 

referred  to  in  the  course  of  the  present  study.     References 

of  less  importance  in  the  text  or  footnotes  have  not,  as  a 

rule,  been  included. 

Bel,  Jehan  le :  Les  Vrayes  Chroniques  de  Messire  Jehan  le 
Bel.     M.  Polain.     2  vols.     Bruxelles,  1863. 

Berners,  Lord:  The  Chronicles  of  Froissart.     Reprint  of 
Pynson's  Edition.    2  vols.    London,  1812. 

Berners:  The  Chronicles  of  Froissart.     Edited  by  W.  P. 
Ker.    6  vols.    London,  1901-3. 

Berners:  The  Chronicles  of  Froissart.     G.   C.  Macaulay. 
Oxford,  1908. 

Boswell-Stone :  Shakspere's  Holinshed.     London,  1907. 

Brewer,  J.  S. :  Letters  and  Papers  of  Henry  VIII.    Vols. 
I-VIII.    London,  1862. 

Brooke,  C.  F.  Tucker:  Shakespeare  Apocrypha.     Oxford, 
1908. 

Capell,  E. :  Prolusions  or  Select  Pieces  of  Ancient  Poetry. 
London,  1760. 

Chandos  the  Herald :  The  Black  Prince.    Coxe,  H.  C.    Rox- 
burgh Club.     London,  1842. 

Child,  F.  J. :  English  and  Scottish  Popular  Ballads. 

Churchill,  G.  B. :  Richard  III  up  to  Shakespeare.    Palaes- 
tra X.     Berlin,  1900. 

Craig,  H. :  Richard  II,  Tudor   Shakespeare.     New  York, 
1912. 

Daniel,  S. :  Complete  Works.    Grosart.    5  vols.    1885-1896. 

Drayton,  M. :  Poems.    Spenser  Society.     1888. 

Fabian,  R. :  New  Chronicles  of  England  and  France.     Re- 
print of  Pynson  edition.     London,  1811. 

158 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  159 

Fleay,  F.  G. :  A  Chronicle  History  of  the  Life  and  Work 
of  William  Shakespeare,  Player,  Poet  and  Playmaker. 
New  York,  1886. 

Froissart,  J. :  Chronicles.  T.  Johnes.  2  vols.  London, 
1844. 

Froissart,  J. :  Chroniques  de  J.  Froissart.  Simeon  Luce. 
Paris,  1869. 

Froissart:  Oeuvres  de  Froissart;  M.  le  baron  Kervyn  de 
Lettenhove.    28  vols.    Bruxelles,  1870. 

Froissart,  J. :  Mary  Darmsteter.    Paris,  1894. 

Gairdner,  J. :  Early  Chroniclers  of  Europe.     London. 

Grafton,  R. :  Chronicles.  Reprint  of  1569  Edition.  2 
vols.     London,  1809. 

Hall,  E. :  Chronicle.  Collated  and  reprinted;  Ellis.  Lon- 
don, 1809. 

Keller,  W. :  A  Tragedy  of  Richard  II.  Shakespeare  Jahr- 
buch  XXXV,  1899. 

Henslowe,  P. :  Diary ;  W.  W.  Greg.     London,  1904. 

Heywood,  T. :  An  Apology  for  Actors.  Shakespeare  So- 
ciety Publications.     London,  1841-3. 

Holinshed,  R. :  Chronicles  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land.    3  vols,  in  2.    London,  1587. 

Jusserand,  J.  J. :  A  Literary  History  of  the  English  People. 
3  vols.     New  York,  1895-1909. 

Kingsford,  C. :  English  Historical  Literature  in  the  Fif- 
teenth Century.     Oxford,  1913. 

Kingsford,  C. :  Survey  of  London ;  John  Stow.  2  vols. 
Oxford,  1908. 

Kittredge,  G.  L. :  Englische  Studien  XXVI. 

Knight,  C. :  Pictorial  Edition  of  Shakespeare. 

Kyd,  T.:  The  Works  of  Thomas  Kyd;  F.  S.  Boas.  Ox- 
ford, 1901. 

Lee,  S. :  Huon  of  Bordeaux.  Early  Eng.  Text  Society. 
2  vols. 


160        FROISSART   AND   THE   ENGLISH   CHRONICLE   PLAY 

Liebau,  G. :  "Konig  Eduard  III  von  England  und  die 
Grafin  von  Salisbury":  Litterarhistorische  Forschungen, 
Heft  XIII.     Berlin,  1900. 

Liebau,  G. :  " Konig  Edward  III  von  England  im  Lichte 
europaischer  Poesie,"  Anglistische  Forschungen.  Hei- 
delburg,  1901. 

Lowes,  J.  L. :  Prologue  to  the  Legend  of  Good  Women,  as 
related  to  the  French  Marguerite  Poems.  Publications 
of  the  Modern  Language  Association.     Vol.  XIX. 

Mirror  for  Magistrates:  Haselwood.  3  vols.  London, 
1815. 

Nash,  T. :  Works.    Mckerrow,  R.  B.    5  vols.    London,  1904. 

Painter,  W. :  Palace  of  Pleasure ;  Joseph  Jacobs.  3  vols. 
London,  1890. 

Porter,  C. :  Richard  II.  First  Folio  edition.  New  York, 
1903. 

Probst,  A.:  Samuel  Daniel's  Civil  Wars  .  .  .  und  Michael 
Drayton's  Barons'  Wars.  Eine  Quellenstudie.  Strass- 
burg,  1902. 

Sehiitt :  The  Life  and  Death  of  Jack  Straw.     Kiel,  1901. 

Schelling,  F.  E. :  English  Chronicle  Play.  New  York, 
1908. 

Smith,  G.  G. :  Elizabethan  Critical  Essays.  2  vols.  Ox- 
ford, 1904. 

Smith,  R.  M. :  Edward  III.  The  Journal  of  English  and 
Germanic  Philology.     1911. 

Speed,  J. :  History  of  Great  Britaine.     London,  1611. 

Spingarn,  J.  E.:  Critical  Essays  of  the  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury.    3  vols.     Oxford,  1908-9. 

Stow,  J. :  Annales.     London,  1631. 

Thorndike,  A.  H. :  Tragedy.     Boston,  1908. 

Ward,  A.  W. :  A  History  of  English  Dramatic  Literature. 
3  vols.     London,  1899. 

Warnke  and  Proescholdt:  Pseudo-Shakespearian  Plays. 
Halle.  1886. 


INDEX 


Abridgment  of  the  Chronicles  of 
England,  Grafton's,  50 

Account  of  Dramatick  Poets,  Lang- 
baine's,  68 

Advancement  of  Learning,  Bacon's, 
34 

Alice  Countesse  of  Salsbury  to  the 
BlacJce  Prince,  66 

Annales,  Stow's,  54  130 

Apology  for  Actors,  Heywood's, 
68 

Apology  for  Poetry,  Sidney's,  34, 
39 

Ascham,  Roger,  34 

Bacon,  Francis,  39 

Baldwin,  William,  93 

Bandello,  Matteo,  64,  66,  84 

Barons'  Wars,  Drayton's,  154 

Battle  of  Otterburn,  The,  42 

Bel,  Jean  le,  6,  12,  63,  69 

Berners,  Lord,  life  of,  14-22 ;  writ- 
ings of,  10-21;  his  style,  23-31 

Berner's  translation  of  Froissart's 
Chronicles,  19,  22  ff;  its  vogue, 
31-36,  46;  its  influence  on  Hall, 
48;  on  Grafton,  51,  69,  102;  on 
Holinshed,  53;  on  Stow,  55;  on 
Speed,  56;  on  Daniel,  58,  146; 
on  Painter,  65;  on  Drayton,  66, 
155;  on  Shakespeare,  156;  use 
of  translation  as  source  for  Ed- 
ward III,  63,  92 ;  for  Bichard  II, 
100  ff,  156;  for  Jack  Straw, 
102  ff,     156;      for     Woodstock, 

12  161 


115  ff,  156;  for  Civil  Wars, 
131  ff,  146,  156 

Bourchier,  John.  See  Berners, 
Lord 

Boisteau,  64 

Bolingbroke,  Henry,  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster, 94,  136,  140,  151  ff 

Bolton,  Edmund,  34,  40,  56 

Brute,  The,  or  The  Chronicles  of 
England,  18,  23,  43,  44 

Camden,  William,  55,  99,  132 

Camden's  Annals,  99 

Capell,  E.,  68,  76 

Capgrave,  John,  43 

Careless  Shepherdess,  The,  Goffe's, 
68 

Castle  of  Love,  The,  21 

Caxton,  William,  17-19,  26,  53 

Chandos,  Sir  John^  41 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  Relations  of,  to 
Froissart,  9 

Chettle,  H.,  100 

Child,  F.  J.,  42 

Chronicles,  3,  6,  10,  18,  22  ff, 
38 ff;  sources  of,  58-59 

Chronicles,  Froissart's,  2,  3,  18; 
first  book,  2,  6,  8,  9,  12;  second 
book,  2,  10;  third  book,  11; 
fourth  book,  12 ;  French  versions 
of,  in  England,  41-46;  influence 
of,  40,  116,  132,  156;  influence 
on  Fabian,  43 ;  influence  on  Poly- 
dore  Vergil,  44;  translation  of, 
see  Berners '  Translation 


162 


INDEX 


Chronicles    of    England,    Scotland 

and  Ireland,  Holinshed  's,  52 
Chronicle  of  Portugal,  Froissart 's, 
11 

Chronicle  plays,  38,  67,  93  ff,  130; 
condemned  by  Queen  Elizabeth, 
96  ff;  Edward  III,  65;  Jack 
Straw,  95,  101  ff;  Bichard  II 
(Woodstock),  95,  115  ff;  Shakes- 
peare's Richard  II,  96,  143  ff; 
Marlowe's  Edward  II,  97  ff,  154 

Chronological  outlines,  2,  62 

Churchill,  G.  B.,  45  n,  47  n 

CM  Wars,  Daniel's,  96,  131  ff, 
143  ff 

Cobbler's  Prophecy,  79 

Collection  of  the  History  of  Eng- 
land, Daniel's,  57 

Collier,  J.  P.,  68,  76 

Conquest  of  Spain  by  John  of 
Gaunt,  The,  157 

Complaynt  of  Rosamund,  Daniel's, 
131 

Countess  of  Salisbury  episode,  63- 
85 

Courtly  conduct  books,  20 

Craig,  Hardin,  145 

Daniel,  Samuel,  57,  96,  131,  156; 
his  Civil  Wars,  131  ff ;  his  rela- 
tion to  Shakespeare,  143  ff ;  to 
Drayton,  154 

Dekker,  Thomas,  100 

Delia,  Daniel's,  131 

Delius,  68,  81,  143 

Deloney,  Thomas,  66 

Drayton,  Michael,  66,  96,  100,  154 

Endimion  and  Phoebe,  Drayton's, 
154 

England 's  Eeroicall  Epistles,  Dray- 
ton's,  66,  96,  156,  157 


Edward  the  Blacke  Prince  to  Alice 
Countesse  of  Salisbury,  66 

Edward  II,  Marlowe's,  97-98,  115, 
125,  154 

Edward  III,  The  Story  of,  63-92 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  Condemnation  of 
chronicle  plays  by,  96  ff 

VEspinette,  Amoureuse,  5 

Euphuism,    Berners'    relation    to, 
21  n 

Fabian,  Robert,  37,  39,  43,  53,  94, 
102,  112,  116,  133 

Fleay,  F.  G.,  78,  79,  80,  84,  144 

French    versions    of    Froissart    in 
England,  41 

Froissart,  John,  birth  of,  3;  first 
love  affair,  5;  poet  and  secre- 
tary to  Queen  Philippa  of  Eng- 
land, 6;  with  the  Black  Prince 
at  Bordeaux,  7;  with  Chaucer  in 
wedding  suite  of  Lionel,  Duke 
of  Clarence,  7,  9;  under  patron- 
age of  Duke  Wenceslas  and 
Robert  of  Namur,  8<;  cure  of 
Lestinnes,  8 ;  under  patronage  of 
Gui  de  Blois,  8,  11;  canon  of 
Chimay,  8 ;  visit  to  England,  11 ; 
zeal  in  gathering  data,  10,  11; 
writings,  see  Chronicles;  death 
of,  13 
Furnivall,  J.  J.,  81 
Goffe,  T.,  68 
Golden  Book  of  Marcus  Aurelius, 

Berners',  21 
Grafton,  Richard,  as  publisher,  39, 
47,  49;  as  chronicler,  49  ff,  69, 
133;  indebtedness  to  Berners' 
Froissart,  50;  and  Holinshed, 
52;  and  Stow,  54;  and  Edward 
III,  69,  92;   and  Daniel's  Civil 


INDEX 


163 


Wars,  133;  and  Jack  Straw,  95, 
102  ff,  156  j  and  Woodstock,  116, 
125,  156 

Grosart,  131,  132,  144 

Hall,  Edward,  Chronicles  of,  37, 
47,  94,  132,  142 

Henry  VIII,  King,  15,  19,  21,  32 

Herald,  Chandos',  author  of  Le 
Prince  Noir,  41,  42 

Hero  and  Leander,  Marlowe's,  154 

Heyward,  Sir  John,  99 

Heywood,  Thomas,  67 

Higden's  Polychronicon,  23 

Historia  Anglica,  Polydore  Ver- 
gil's, 37,  44,  46 

History,  Vogue  of,  in  15th  and 
16th  centuries,  17,  32 

History  of  England,  Daniel's,  57, 
132 

History  of  Great  Britaine,  Speed 's, 
56 

History  of  the  First  Part  of  the 
Life  and  Eeign  of  Henry  IV,  99 

Holinshed,  Ealph,  Chronicles  of, 
37,  39;  relation  of,  to  Berners' 
Froissart,  52  ff;  to  Speed,  57;  in- 
fluence on  chronicle  plays,  97; 
as  source  for  Edward  III,  69, 
82,  87,  92;  for  Shakespeare's 
Eichard  II,  98,  156;  for  Jack 
Straw,  102,  105,  106;  for  Wood- 
stock, 116  ff,  121,  124,  125,  127, 
129;  for  Daniel's  Civil  Wars, 
132,  142,  152;  for  Drayton's 
Barons'  Wars,  155 

Huon  de  Bordeaux,  19,  20 

Hypercritica,  Bolton's,  34,  40 

Isabel,  Queen,  episode  of,  136  ff, 
155 

Jack  Straw,  95,  101  ff,  115,  156 

Johnes,  26 


Joli  Buisson  de  Jeunesse,  4 

Jonson,  Ben,  39 

Jusserand,  J.  J.,  24 

Keller,  Prof.  Wolfgang,  97,  115, 
116 

Ker,  W.  P.,  17 

Kittredge,  G.  L.,  9 

Knight,  C,  81,  144,  145 

Knighton,  Henry,  42,  53,  102 

Kyd,  Thomas,  77 

Langbaine,  G.,  68 

Lee,  Sidney,  49,  131  n,  143 

Legend  of  Good  Women,  10 

Legend  of  Piers  Gaveston,  Dray- 
ton's, 154 

Leland,  33,  35,  46 

Les  Chroniques  de  France,  43 

Les  Chroniques  de  St.  Denys,  43,  58 

Les  Histories  Tragiques,  64 

Liebau,  Gustavo,  64,  66,  69,  81,  87 

Life  and  Heath  of  Jack  Straw,  The, 
95,  101-113,  115,  154,  156 

Le  Prince  Noir,  41 

Lowes,  J.  L.,  9,  10 

Luce,  Simeon,  3 

Lyly,  John,  21  n,  27 

Macaulay,  G.  C,  25  n,  33 

Malone,  143,  144 

Malory,  Sir  Thomas,  19,  26 

Manual  of  the  Chronicles  of  Eng- 
land, A,  Grafton's,  50 

Marlowe,  Christopher,  supposed 
author  of  Edward  III,  77-81; 
his  Edward  II,  97,  115,  125,  154 

Meliador,  Froissart 's,  9,  10 

Mere's  Palladis  Tamia,  77 

Middleton,  William,  24,  33,  37 

Mirror  for  Magistrates,  93 

Moorman,  F.  W.,  81,  84 

Morte  d'  Arthur,  18 


164 


INDEX 


Morton,  Sir  John,  Episode  of,  102, 
106  ff 

Mowbray,  Thomas,  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk, 93 

Nashe,  Thomas,  27,  35,  36,  131 

New  Chronicles  of  England  and 
France,  Fabian's,  43 

Notes  of  the  Chronicle  History, 
Drayton's,  156 

Old  Mortality,  Scott's,  praise  of 
Froissart  in,  3 

Order  of  Chivalry,  Caxton's,  19 

Painter,  William,  and  Berners' 
Froissart,  35,  37;  and  Countess 
of  Salisbury  episode,  64,  69,  75, 
82-84,  92 

Palace  of  Pleasure,  Painter's,  35, 
64  ff 

Palace  of  Pleasure,  Pettie's,  67  n 

Palladis  Tamia,  77 

Pandecta  Rotulorum,  99 

Paradys  d'  Amours,  9 

Paris,  Matthew,  55 

Paston  Letters,  43 

Peacham,  Henry,  34 

Phdlippa,  Queen  of  England,  6ff 
12 

Polychronicon,  18,  23 

Porter,  Charlotte,  144,  147 

Prayse  of  Bed  Herring,  The,  36 

Probst,  Albert,  132  ff,  145,  155 

Prologue  of  the  Legend  of  Good 
Women,  10 

Prolusions,  or  Select  Pieces  of  An- 
cient Poetry,  68 

Pynson,  Richard,  19,  24 

Queene  Isaoell  to  Richard  the  Sec- 
ond, 96 

Baigne  of  King  Edward  the  Third, 
The,  67,  70  ff 

Rape  of  Lucrece,  Shakespeare's,  77 


Richard  II,  King,  11,  12;  the  story 

of,  93  ff 
Richard  II,  Shakespeare's,  96,  98, 

115,  135,    143  ff,    154  ff 
Richard  the  second  to  Queen  Isa- 
oell, 96 

Roman  au  Chroniques,  Froissart 's, 
19,  43 

Romances,  19,  20 

St.  Denis  chronicle,  43,  58 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  3 

Shakespeare,  Wm.,  53 ;  Edward  III 
ascribed  to,  68,  76  ff;  his  Richard 
II,  96,  98,  115,  135,  143  ff, 
154  ff;   Rape  of  Lucrece,  77 

Shepherd 's  Calender,  Spenser 's, 
154 

Shepherd's  Garland,  154 

Shiitt,  H.,  101 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  39 

Sources  of  English  chronicles, 
Table  of,  58-59 

Speed,  John,  56,  133 

Spenser,  Edmund,  154 

Stow,  John,  39;  chronicles  of, 
37,  50,  53,  57;  indebtedness  to 
Berners '  Froissart,  54  ff ;  a 
source  for  Jack  Straw,  102  ff, 
114;    a    source   for    Woodstock, 

116,  122,    130;    a    source    for 
Daniel's  Civil  Wars,  132,  135 

Summarie  of  Englishe  Chronicles, 
Stow's,  50,  54 

Survey  of  London,  Stow's,  54 

Terrors  of  the  Night,  Nashe 's,  36 

Tragedy  of  King  Richard  the  sec- 
ond, A,  95,  115 

Translation  of  Froissart,  see  Ber- 
ners' Translation 

TTevisa,  John  de,  43 

Tyler,  Wat,  101  ff 


INDEX 


165 


Tucker-Brooke,   C.   F.,   70,   81,   87 
Union  of  the  Two  Noble  and  Il- 
lustrious Families  of  Lancaster 
and  York,  47 
Vergil,  Polydore,  Chronicles  of,  37, 
44  ff,   50,   53,   57;    a  source  for 
Daniel's  Civil  Wars,  132,  133 
Verard,  Antoine,  23 
Villiers-Salisbury  episode,  69,  87  ff 
Walsingham,    Thomas,    Chronicles 
of,  42,  59;   a  source  for  Holin- 
shed,  53,  116;  for  Stow,  55;  for 
Speed,  57 ;  for  Jack  Straw,  102 ; 
for  Daniel's  Civil  Wars,  133 


Walworth,  Mayor  of  London,  101 

Ward,  A.  W.,  77,  143 

Warnke  and  Proescholdt,  69,  79, 
81,  87 

Woodstock,  95,  97,  115  ff,  134,  154, 
156 

Woodstock,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  94 
115 

White,  E.  G.,  131  n,  143 

Worthies  of  Hertfordshire,  Ful- 
ler's, 14 

Wynkyn  de  Worde,  20 


VITA 

Eobert  Metcalf  Smith  was  born  in  Worcester,  Massachu- 
setts, March  29,  1886.  After  receiving  his  early  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  Worcester,  and  of  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  he  attended  for  two  years  The  Norwood  School, 
Massachusetts,  and  for  two  years  The  Lawrenceville  School, 
New  Jersey.  He  graduated  from  Amherst  High  School, 
Amherst,  Massachusetts,  in  1904,  and  received  the  degree 
of  A.B.  from  Amherst  College  in  1908.  Entering  in  the 
fall  the  graduate  school  of  Columbia  University,  he  pro- 
ceeded as  University  Scholar  in  English  to  the  degree  of 
A.M.,  which  he  received  in  June,  1909.  During  the  years 
1909-10  and  1910-11  he  was  instructor  in  English  Litera- 
ture and  Rhetoric  at  Muhlenberg  College,  Pennsylvania, 
and  at  the  University  of  Minnesota  respectively.  During 
the  year  1911-12  as  University  Fellow  in  English  he  com- 
pleted residence  work  at  Columbia  University  for  the  degree 
of  Ph.D.  In  June  1912  he  married  Agnes  Williams  Clancy 
of  South  Egremont,  Massachusetts.  From  1912  to  1915  he 
has  acted  as  Professor  of  English  in  Westminster  College, 
Pennsylvania. 


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